OK so how dose combat work, exactly?

[Longbow520]

OK so i'm playing my first game Vampire the masquerade 3rd ed and can't figure out the combat system, the only one iv ever used is the D&D system.

[Calthropstu]

Very very poorly.
You get a number of dice, generally equal to what you are using (ie martial arts and combat) then if you activate abilities using blood add those for dice as well. There is a target number on the d10 which will determine your number of successes based on how many dice hit that number.
Your opponent rolls his defense. You do damage equal to your successes minus your opponents successes. I have seen combats drag on and on because no one could hurt each other.