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One thing Vampire has prided itself on is its literary pedigree, drawing from works of fiction that have their grounding in the gothic and romantic literary traditions as well as various eras of genre fiction.
But one thing that comes out really well in the game that isn't so visible in traditional fiction is that, as a game, Vampire makes for success vs. failure states, and builds game context out of them. The "failure can be interesting" argument.
A Kindred's attempt to Dominate can fail. A Kindred's attempt to sway a mortal's emotions can fail. A Kindred's attempt to reshape the flesh and bone of a servitor can fail. A Kindred's attempt to vanish from sight can fail.
In a game context, these are great conditions. They cultivate a sense of creative limitation in the player. Using a supernatural power is a decision to make, and what to do when a power fails is another decision. Games are about choice.
Contrast this with traditional fiction presentations of vampires. When was the last time a vampire failed doing their unholy willworking? There are a few cases, and they're almost always contextualized.
A new vampire learning their abilities; a vampire facing an obviously superior or immune foe. They're deterministic, decided by the writer.
In games, though, the failures are as much a part of the game as the successes. What do you do when your attempt to soothe the roiling crowd fails? What do you do when a witness observes you feeding? What do you do when you can't jump to the adjacent rooftop?
One engaging byproduct of these outcomes is unexpected narrative progression. While failure can be interesting, failure can also help players succeed. Failures can encourage players to seek new allies. Failures can expose other antagonists.
Failures can reveal the shortcomings in a coterie's advantages that give them a focus upon which to improve. That is, failures can steer the story into unexpected territory that is both rewarding narratively, and challenging in terms of gameplay for both Storyteller and players.
