Vampire: The Requiem has only 5 clans. As we went through the design process, we looked at what we felt were the cultural and literary archetypes for vampires. Noble and lordly (Ventrue), animalistic (Gangrel), horrifying (Nosferatu), sensual and passionate (Daeva), and mysterious keepers of occult secrets (Mekhet) seemed to encompass most popular vampire lore. If we already had already created a clan that fit that archetype then we stuck with it, but if the idea needed a bit more tweaking, we expanded it a bit more. For example, we felt that the Toreador were too specifically focused on art to encompass all of the passionate, sultry Kindred so we created the Daeva. On the other hand, the Gangrel were almost perfect as-is, and made the transition with relatively little change. Having only five clans allows us to focus more broadly on defining each one and expanding them through bloodlines. Almost any vampire concept from Western civilization fits into the new clan structure, and those that don't can be fine-tuned through use of bloodlines.

One Hallmark Discipline Per Clan. We felt that the clans weren’t distinct enough in their abilities in the old game, so we increased the number of core Disciplines to 10. Each clan now has one Discipline that they are considered masters of, and they share a common pool of traditional vampire abilities as well.

Bloodlines and Blood Potency. In order to expand the character options from the five basic clans and the five basic covenants, we created a system by which players and Storytellers can realize new bloodlines. At 2 dots of Blood Potency a childe may adopt his sire’s bloodline. At 4 dots, he may adopt any clan bloodline and at 6 dots, he may create his own bloodline. For Example: Tomas, a Gangrel of the Bruja bloodline, Embraces a childe named Danielle. Upon her Embrace, Danielle gains Blood Potency 1 and becomes a Gangrel. At Blood Potency 2, she may adopt her sire’s bloodline and become a Bruja. At Blood Potency 4 she may adopt a different Gangrel bloodline. At Blood Potency 6 she may create her own Gangrel bloodline. She can do only one of these things, as once you take a bloodline, there is no going back. Some bloodlines even have their own specific, unique bloodline Disciplines, which players may also work with the Storyteller to create.

Simplified Combat System. N0 more two-hour combats! The new system has been pared down to one simple dice roll in order to lend a more dramatic feel and pace to combat. You simply roll your character's Attribute + Skill + a weapon or equipment modifier and subtract your opponent’s defense. Any successes you achieve on that roll count as that many points of damage.

New Flaw System. One of the more abused systems in the old Storyteller ruleset was taking flaws at character creation – you got the points for them even if you never roleplayed them. Under the new system, you get no additional character creation points for taking flaws. Instead, you receive additional experience points for roleplaying those flaws when they come up in the course of a story.

Power Changes Hands. In the old setting, most princes or powerful characters had been dominant powers in their cities for centuries or more. Your characters had to be satisfied as pawns in the game. We wanted players to be able to take a more active role. As a powerful character (like a Prince) gains Blood Potency, her ability to feed becomes restricted. At Blood Potency 3 she may no longer feed on animal Vitae, and by Blood Potency 7 she may feed only on other vampires. As it becomes more difficult for elder Kindred to find prey, they eventually fall into torpor. Thus the power structure of a city changes much more frequently in a city giving players more of an opportunity to seize control.

One Core Rulebook. No longer are you forced to buy the same 150 pages of rules every time you explore a new World Of Darkness game. The core rules stay the same and need to be purchased only once. The World of Darkness book covers Attributes, Skills, Merits, Flaws, Combat, Equipment and a host of other concepts. In addition, the rules make it possible for you to play mortals in the World of Darkness and take them through their conversion to the supernatural should you so choose.

Genuinely Cross Compatible. The single rulebook illustrates our new emphasis on making the games entirely compatible with each other. Supernatural creatures may be treated as enemies with no conversions or approximate rule conversions and may even interact as often as they wish. The setting no longer assumes a blind, genocidal hatred between types of supernatural creatures, though they do remain enigmatic and mysterious.

No Caine. We loved the Caine myth, but we felt it overwhelmed all of the other setting material. Now we have multiple origin stories regarding the genesis of the Kindred, none of which are verifiable. Dracula, founder of the Ordo Dracul, claims to have had no Embrace, while the Lancea Sanctum believes that Longinus (the Roman soldier who speared Christ on the cross) was cursed with undeath when Christ’s blood dripped on him from above. Cain may be out there, but who can say what he is, if he exists at all?

The Vinculum. Blood bonds are no longer guaranteed after consuming another Kindred’s Vitae. Powerful characters can potentially resist the Vinculum for some time before succumbing. This leads to false bonds, where an individual poses as being bound only waiting for the right time to act, and in general contributes to a more mysterious state of vampirism.