Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani- useful for 3rd ed?

[LamordianSorcerer]

I plan on running a Ravenloft game using the Pathfinder rules and have several questions regarding this 2nd Edition product.

I really enjoyed the 3rd Edition VRGs (Walking Dead and Shadow Fey). Do the 2nd Edition Guides follow a similar format?

How much is the "fluff" to "crunch" ratio? Does most of the book cover generic setting information regarding the Vistani that can fit into any edition, or is a significant amount dedicated to older rules?

Does the Guide cover anything of significance not within the 3rd edition accessories? If I have all the White Wolf/Arthaus products, would this be a worthwhile purchase?

Any help is appreciated!

[Rotipher of the FoS]

It varies from one VRG to another, but the Vistani book is especially heavy on "fluff", as the writers didn't want to tie down something as enigmatic as the Vistani with too many game-stats. If you're looking for cultural insight, it's probably the best of the Guides for that.

Don't let concerns about 2E-vs-3E-vs-4E scare you away from those books, if you can find them. Even the ones that are more mechanics-oriented have a lot of backstory and descriptive content to them, and the game stats are usually pretty modular: traits you can slap onto an existing monster, rather than complete builds. Even the ones for ghosts and ancient dead, which essentially rebuild the creatures from the ground up, are pretty easy to adapt to whichever system you prefer.

BTW, if you're a fan of the W-F Twins, there's some commentary from them in the complied re-issue of the VRGs, the Monster Hunters' Compendia. Also a nice account of Van Richten's life and disappearance.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

2nd Edition was less crunchy in general in many ways. The "monstrous" VRG's did have a lot of crunch in term of new vampire or ghost powers or weaknesses, etc. But I would say VRGtV is one of the least crunchy and most fluffy of the VRGs. It absolutely has relevance to a 3e or 4e game, and has tons of flavor info on vistani culture. I would highly recommend picking it up. It's one of my favorite books of the 2e line.

[nothri]

http://asusurrusincarcosa.blogspot.com/ ... brief.html

Slightly different opinion on the matter. Personally, while he might have a point about the sterotypes, that's kind of a weak point considering D&D in general is filled to the brim with fantasy sterotypes and Ravenloft in particular thrived off the archetypes of the monstrous races. 4th edition's conception of the Vistani remains, in my simple opinion, by far the inferior take on them.

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

The VRGs were always high on fluff and flavour with the rules taking a back seat, this I felt added more detail and a bunch of crunshier blocks of rules and the Vistani was a prime example of this. I wouldn't worry about the outdated mechanics since the book is worth good for being a darn good read and what rules there are will be pretty easy to update to the following edition.

VRGtV is one of my favourites in the series and I drew upon it heavily as a source book (so much that I had to buy a 2nd after wearing out the first), beaten only by Guide to Witches (and I used that one a heck of a lot, lol).