I think the question itself is problematic by being framed without consideration to how Disciplines work in the first place. Which brings us the problem of each one answering more with preferred edition or house-rule instead of putting the list they use.
My preferred take is Requiem 2nd editions' list. A limited number of powers with broad applications and versatile mechanics. I particularly love their work with Auspex and Protean. And on top of that Devotions, a simple rule to add new powers without building an entire new Discipline from scratch.
But a list of Disciplines I make based on those rules simply won't work in a game using any edition's VtM rules for Disciplines. The ideal list pretty much depends on the base rule of how those things will work in the end.
Without a rule similar to Devotions it is really hard to justify trimming down the number of Disciplines, because sooner or later you'll want a character with a power that doesn't quite fits with what you already have. Of course, you can take the simplest route of banning them from your game altogether and stick to it, but I don't find it a positive framework to start from as Storyteller. And yes, they are gimmicky powers. This isn't a problem at all, gimmicks are useful plot devices, for major, minor and personal plots.
Combo Disciplines, now Amalgams, have existed to cover that for some time now. But they present problems that still keeps them from working properly. The first is the heft requisite for a power that isn't always that powerful and you may want to give it to an inexperienced character, PC or NPC. Devotions only have to require a single Discipline.
Going with V1-20 take on Disciplines, with very strictly defined chain of powers and Combos being few and little known, it is unavoidable to have a bazillion gimmicky Disciplines. If that's the route, then I'm staying with Elphilm on that one. It is not Discipline bloat, you still have only 10 that you need to use with any regularity. Everything else is color for particular characters and are readily available on the books, why bother reinventing the wheel? The setting works just fine as is (in this regard).
V5 changes little on the problem. You still have the same number of powers (give or take few) and they still take their specific slots in your character sheet. They are just organized differently. This new organization makes sense? Yes, it does. Barely, but it does. And it does solve problems when entire Disciplines existed only because of a couple key powers, but it also keep the particular powers just as unnecessarily specific as always, if not more.
Yet, the damn slots are a problem that makes little sense. Forcing a character to forever forfeit all other options when choosing a power for a given slot is a strange design decision I still don't understand. On top of that, Amalgams are more visible, which is a plus, but they take out slots, which is a huge down. So I'd it's a solid draw between the two options, pre and post V5.
On the end of the day, the 10 original Disciplines are a pretty solid basis, you don't strictly need anything else, we just need a mechanic to deal with variations and novelties, as they need a place. VtM lacks that. And putting Necromancy into Oblivion is plain bad, seriously.
My preferred take is Requiem 2nd editions' list. A limited number of powers with broad applications and versatile mechanics. I particularly love their work with Auspex and Protean. And on top of that Devotions, a simple rule to add new powers without building an entire new Discipline from scratch.
But a list of Disciplines I make based on those rules simply won't work in a game using any edition's VtM rules for Disciplines. The ideal list pretty much depends on the base rule of how those things will work in the end.
Without a rule similar to Devotions it is really hard to justify trimming down the number of Disciplines, because sooner or later you'll want a character with a power that doesn't quite fits with what you already have. Of course, you can take the simplest route of banning them from your game altogether and stick to it, but I don't find it a positive framework to start from as Storyteller. And yes, they are gimmicky powers. This isn't a problem at all, gimmicks are useful plot devices, for major, minor and personal plots.
Combo Disciplines, now Amalgams, have existed to cover that for some time now. But they present problems that still keeps them from working properly. The first is the heft requisite for a power that isn't always that powerful and you may want to give it to an inexperienced character, PC or NPC. Devotions only have to require a single Discipline.
Going with V1-20 take on Disciplines, with very strictly defined chain of powers and Combos being few and little known, it is unavoidable to have a bazillion gimmicky Disciplines. If that's the route, then I'm staying with Elphilm on that one. It is not Discipline bloat, you still have only 10 that you need to use with any regularity. Everything else is color for particular characters and are readily available on the books, why bother reinventing the wheel? The setting works just fine as is (in this regard).
V5 changes little on the problem. You still have the same number of powers (give or take few) and they still take their specific slots in your character sheet. They are just organized differently. This new organization makes sense? Yes, it does. Barely, but it does. And it does solve problems when entire Disciplines existed only because of a couple key powers, but it also keep the particular powers just as unnecessarily specific as always, if not more.
Yet, the damn slots are a problem that makes little sense. Forcing a character to forever forfeit all other options when choosing a power for a given slot is a strange design decision I still don't understand. On top of that, Amalgams are more visible, which is a plus, but they take out slots, which is a huge down. So I'd it's a solid draw between the two options, pre and post V5.
On the end of the day, the 10 original Disciplines are a pretty solid basis, you don't strictly need anything else, we just need a mechanic to deal with variations and novelties, as they need a place. VtM lacks that. And putting Necromancy into Oblivion is plain bad, seriously.
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