Setting ideas for Blood Dark Thirst

To those who have the Blood Dark Thirst - playtest "A" document, thanks again for participating!  I look forward to reading your feedback.

I've already received several surveys and even a review of sorts.

As I'm just about finished with my duties for The S'rulyan Vault II kickstarter, I've given more thought to the world of Blood Dark Thirst - the default campaign setting.  Even though I want this vampire RPG to support multiple styles of play, I do want to focus on what makes this game special.

I need to ask myself, "How is this vampire RPG different than others?"

The following is a drop zone of things I want to explore and investigate.  Some of these I've touched on in the playtest, others are new but still rooted in my growing list of influences.

• I've started watching the Subspecies films again (only the first one so far).  I love Radu's belief that attachment to the feelings of mortals is a weakness that vampires can't afford to have.  Also, his preoccupation with consorts and fledglings.  
• I want character creation and the introductory adventure to focus on what it would be like to awaken as a vampire just after being turned - especially, under less than ideal circumstances.
• The existence of vampires is somewhere between an open secret and common knowledge.  Maybe it's something that most people don't like to talk about, but is an ever-growing threat on the edges of popular culture.  While I don't want to go anywhere as far as that Daybreakers (which I did not care for), the masquerade is certainly over.  If you remember that Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode from season 3 "The Wish," that's kind of what I'm going for.  Vampires have effectively taken over the bad parts of town - the inner cities, but the affluent areas and suburbs are more or less bloodsucker free... for now.
  
• Because mortals know about vampires, a fair number of them retaliate.  The hunters become the hunted.  So, that means the PCs will have to watch out.  It won't always be easy pickings out there, they'll have to watch their backs.  That's a good reason for vampires to form packs.
• This also means that vampire competition can be brutal.  Remain in your usual hunting ground and eventually hunters will come after you.  Stray too far from your usual hunting ground and other vampires might try to kill you because you're on their turf, indulging in their limited resources.
• Since the secret's out, it's hard to casually insert oneself into a gathering of mortals and drink their precious blood without causing a panic.  That means vampires will have to be stealthier and smarter in order to feed.  Some pale dude with a Eurotrash accent pulls up in his black porsche and asks a couple of females to get in because he's in the mood to party - that's going to work approximately 1% of the time.  This forces vampires to be more creative.
• There's no strict hierarchy, political squabbles, or "vampire government."  Vampires tend towards the animalistic, feral, demonic, impulsive, and predatory.  They are more instinctual than contemplative.  I can't imagine vampires in Blood Dark Thirst sitting in a fancy room of green marble, subtly manipulating other vampires like chess pieces in order to get what they want.  Sure, you can plan, coerce, intimidate and even manipulate humans and vampires alike, but with this game it's more immediate.  "GTFO or I'll kill you where you stand."
• Because of the nightly struggle for survival, there's no ennui or malaise - you fight to stay alive, night after night, enjoying small pleasures where you can.  Achieving lofty goals is on the horizon, but that's tomorrow's problem.

Feel free to comment, share, ask a question, or whatever.  Even if you just want to talk about vampires - go ahead and post something!

I'll let you guys know when the playtest "B" document is ready, possibly this weekend.

VS

NPC Portraits

Now, these are for the Vampire: the Masquerade chronicle I'm running; notable characters, sires, progeny, antagonists, and Kindred of interest around the greater Janesville area.  If you're not one of my players, these photos won't be as useful; however, they might still work for you or your RPG.

Johnathan Marsh ~ malkavian

Vanessa ~ caitiff

Mark Sensa ~ gangrel

Kamilla ~ ???

James Swanson aka "Creepazoid" ~ caitiff

Harold's character before he was embraced.

Starker ~ ventrue and Prince of Janesville

Venom ~ gangrel

Benedict Rasahn ~ Tremere


VS

p.s.  None of these images are mine and I have no rights regarding them, just found them with a google search and thought they looked appropriate.  If there's a problem, just let me know and I'll swamp certain images for others.

V:tM warm-up

The "warm-up set" of Vampire: the Masquerade went swimmingly.  As is my practice, I've been volunteering to run old school paper & pencil, tabletop roleplaying games once a month for the Madison Geekery meetup.

It was a great time!  I had the chance to be Storyteller for a couple people who had never played an RPG before, a couple people with sparse RPG experience, and a few people who used to play V:tM, but hadn't in many years.  In fact, the last time I played or ran Vampire myself was about 8 years ago.  Long time.

A couple months ago, I announced that I'd be starting a weekly home game for V:tM.  Nostalgia called to me, and I've been keeping dozens of Vampire RPG books around since 1991.  So, that was one of my reasons for wanting to try it again as a one-off.  To see where the cracks were.

I fondly remember all those nights gaming in the early to mid 90's.  The ten-siders, the fantastic successes and botches, lost humanity, frenzy, and freshly xeroxed starting characters strong enough to punch through a human's skull.  It's a much different game than D&D.  For instance: upon sundown, I asked each player to describe where their character lived, spent the daylight hours, and what they were doing after rising from their death-like slumber.  Based upon their character concept, resources, and other backgrounds, they came up with a suitable response.  Much more "sand box", except within city limits.

There were a lot of players.  I wanted to be as inclusive as possible (I hate turning people away).  The sign-up allowed for 7 players.  Well, I emailed a couple on the waiting list and said they could join in, too.  Then, one of my best friends and frequent gaming buddy was over at my house watching Hawk the Slayer on DVD the night before.  I was telling him about the game (he's also going to be playing in the weekly home game).  Turns out, he also wanted to join the one-shot.

As luck would have it, one or two people who signed-up couldn't make it last minute, so there were about 8 or 9 players.  Not an easy thing for a Storyteller to negotiate when there's only 3 hours of game time and each character might decide to do his or her own thing - many Kindred are solitary predators.

Thankfully, there was a bar... that old RPG standby; and vampires being former-people, most wanted to socialize and be near others of their kind... for awhile, at least.  That helped.  Besides a single Nosferatu, everyone either played a Gangrel, Brujah, or Toreador.

I decided to use the sample chronicle from the back of the first edition rules.  The game started in Gary, Indiana with Chicago casting a particularly nasty black shadow over the characters' home city of rust, decay, and general ruin.  Even though Vampire is a dark game, there were plenty of light moments.  Everyone had a lot of laughs.  One gangrel tried to use his animalism to summon his pet bear to the bar, but with only a single success - a raccoon answered the call!

The plot revolved around a Chicago biker gang called the Blood Angels who worked for Lodin, Prince of Chi-town.  Modius is slowly losing control of Gary, and constantly antagonized by Lodin and Chicago Kindred.  As usually happens, the session organically evolved into its own thing, beyond my notes and theories about where the night would take us.

I gave everyone a taste of not only vitae but ultra-violence.  There were enough bikers to satisfy everyone's bloodlust.  Good times!  My idea of using Blood Potency instead of Generation also went well.  It seemed more appropriate.  After character creation, I gave everyone a one sentence origin story - vampires were spawned from ancient demons; the last of which slain during the Inquisition.

As usual, the end of the night came abruptly.  Just as the players were becoming comfortable with their character, the rules, setting, motivations, etc. it was over.  "Is that it?  Can we do this again?" A woman asked.  One player suggested we continue another night.  I still hadn't decided on September's game, and suggested a "part 2".  There was wholehearted agreement.

Hearing the enthusiasm and being asked to keep the game going makes it all worth while.  The conclusion will see the character's fighting Kindred, not just mortals with switchblades and 9mms.  Modius is pleased...


VS

Seed of a Chronicle

There won't be spoilers because I haven't gotten that far.  I've only worked out the bare bones introduction to my own personal World of Darkness.  The following will serve as the basis for my Vampire: the Masquerade chronicle.  Without further ado...

All (or at least most - I love exceptions to the rule, as long as, their reason-for-being is exceptional) of the PCs are neonates (newly embraced vampires for those who aren't familiar with V:tM jargon).  A city (not sure which one - maybe it will go unnamed throughout the chronicle) has just lost its Kindred population; wiped clean... no survivors.  Most likely the handiwork of a vampire hunter gang.  There are several known throughout the country, but unfortunately (for the Kindred) they keep moving.  Nomadic gangs of vampire hunting badasses are difficult to kill.

Anyways, this kind of extermination is a rarity, but it does happen from time to time.  Kindred are practiced at keeping a stronghold for decades if not centuries.  The urban areas are their domain.  Sure, a few Gangrel exist out in the wilderness, but that's werewolf territory.  Kindred need cities to survive, they need people and civilization.  To lose one is definitely a blow to their bloodsucking ego.

There are many reasons for re-populating a lost city with Kindred: contacts, allies, investments... all will run dry if the Camarilla just leaves it be.  Plus, feeding grounds are valuable commodities - a vampire's gotta eat, and the masquerade dictates that a certain population can only abide a certain number of Kindred. So, abandoning the city is not an option.

In go the neonates.  They're the most expendable.  With all those vampire hunters running around (it's been determined that all the city's Kindred were wiped out by vampire hunters, but no one is 100% certain), the elders don't want to risk it and the ancillae are preoccupied with power struggles in their present domains.  Various neonates from several different clans, cities, and (possibly) covenants are being selected to re-populate the city, restore the Camarilla's influence, and, most importantly, eliminate the danger.

This allows players to come up with pretty much any character concept they want and still have a reason for working alongside dissimilar characters in a particular location.  There's a built-in threat to jump start the action.  Plus, great potential for upward mobility.  By the end of the chronicle, perhaps one of the PCs will become Prince of the city...

As for the tone/atmosphere, here's a vague abstraction: dark, gothic, industrial... rust everywhere, black rain falling on mean streets, broken concrete, graffiti, and corroding inner-city slums with traces of decadent opulence for those elitist 1% living behind wrought-iron gates.

Thanks for reading.  If you want to make a suggestion, comment, or pose a question, please do.


VS

Old School Vampire: the Masquerade

This post is just what I've been thinking of and toying with regarding an upcoming Vampire: the Masquerade chronicle.  For the most part, I've decided to stay true to the first printing of the rule book - with a few Requiem changes for good measure.  For instance, I'm using Blood Potency instead of Generation, as well as, obscuring Kindred origins (probably nothing to do with Cain).  

I'm only allowing the original core clans.  The following are the descriptions I sent to the one-off Vampire game I'm volunteering to run for a local geek meetup...

Here's the list of possible clans which will strongly influence the type of vampire you are. Vampires (Kindred) tend to choose certain types of people to vampirize (embrace), those who will best fit into their respective clan. You can play against type, but you need to have a compelling reason for doing so (i.e. your being made a vampire was a case of mistaken identity).
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Nosferatu: Physically, they are repulsive. They like to live in sewers, staying hidden or in the background of Kindred society (the Camarilla), trading in secrets rather than showing off in the spotlight.

Tremere: They are vampire wizards, but instead of casting fireball or magic missile, The Tremere use elaborate rituals and alchemical potions containing rare ingredients. The most hierarchical clan - don't expect a neonate (new vampire) to quickly rise in the ranks.

Ventrue: A sophisticated, conservative, calculating, and old-world clan. The Ventrue are power brokers who more or less "lead" the clans, claiming to be Fathers of the Camarilla.

Gangrel: Loners who are in tune with their animalistic roots. Gangrel are most likely to survive outside the city.

Toreador: Hedonists, sensualists, artists, and epicureans. This clan sees vampirism as search for truth, beauty, pleasure, or as a purely aesthetic exercise. Since they also consider themselves sophisticated and refined, Toreador get along fairly well with the Ventrue. If clan Ventrue are Camarilla Fathers, then Toreador would be the Mothers.

Brujah: Rebellious malcontents. This clan despises authority and revels in anarchy. Even though clan Brujah is part of the Camarilla, they are on the outskirts. In that way, they are sort of like the Gangrel; however, the two clans rarely get along.

Malkavian: The Kindred equivalent of a "wild card". These vampires are more or less insane. Very unpredictable. They see things from their own warped perspective, and love a good prank or practical joke.

Caitiff: This is the category for those without a clan. These vampires are definitely on the outside looking in and treated as second class citizens by most, yet they have more freedom than any Kindred belonging to a clan. 
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After that, I sent another email.  Here are the questions I wanted each player to think about...

1. What's your character's name? Birth name and nickname or what he/she goes by these days? 

2. How long has your character been a vampire, as well as, the age he/she was embraced (your character's apparent age)? 

3. Does your character have any close mortal friends? If not, then why not. If so, then do they know that he/she is a vampire? Keep in mind that allowing humans to know about the Kindred is a breach of the masquerade. 

4. What is your character's nature and demeanor. Nature is your inner desires, who you really are - the core beliefs you hold. Demeanor is what you've picked up along the way, learned behavior, affectations, and surface bits of personality. Sometimes, nature and demeanor work in conjunction and are very similar to each other, other times they seem downright opposed. A list of nature and demeanor archetypes I found online: [not included here]


5. Who was/is your character's sire? Is he/she still around? If so, describe your relationship. 

6. What are your thoughts on your character's clan? 

7. Describe a typical night for your character. 


8. What was your character like as a person before he/she was embraced?

In a few days, I'll post again, exploring chronicle stories, concepts, themes, motifs, and whatnot.

VS

Kindred: The Embraced

As I've done in the past, I'll be volunteering my services as GM to those who've never played an RPG in their life, as well as, those who haven't played in awhile.  I started with Dungeon Crawl Classics, then Swords & Wizardry.  For a change, the end of August's meetup will be Vampire: the Masquerade.

Not only will it be refreshing to do something different like Vampire, but I'm also going be running a Vampire chronicle in September... and it will be nice to have 1 or 2 new players.  Yes, volunteering to run an RPG via your local game store, library, internet meetup, or whatever is a great way of finding new players or games looking for players.

I recently re-watched Kindred: the Embraced.  That was a blast from the past.  The Godfather meets Melrose Place by way of Dracula (The Lost Boys?).  A lot has transpired since 1996, so K:tE looks dated.  However, it's also an eight-episode guide to creating a chronicle, a living city with clans, sires, and plenty of blood-soaked secrets.  Here are my top 10 reasons why Kindred: the Embraced never made it past the first season.

1.  The main character, Julian Luna, played by Mark Frankel died in a motorcycle accident soon after the show aired.

2.  I don't think the word "vampire" was used once in the entire show.  I can understand the aesthetic reasons for wanting to avoid the V word, but marketing-wise... that was probably a bad move.  How are casual vampire fans going to find out about a vampire show if there's nothing to identify it as being about vampires in the title?  Sure, there's the roleplaying game, but that's pretty niche.  Plus, this is pre-internet.

3.  The pilot started right in the middle of things.  That can be cool, but also confusing.  If K:tE was done today, then not only would it be called Vampire's Embrace or something, but it would have the first 10 minutes explaining what a clan was and how they see each other, why there was a small table full of primogen, why a city needs a Prince, etc.  If you knew absolutely nothing about the Vampire RPG, then you'd get the gist by the last episode of the season.

4.  They're all day-walkers!  Vampires who can go out in the daylight, as long as, they're not starving?  I guess that makes sense, but it takes a huge part of the common vampire mythology out of the picture.  Basically, this made the show more Melrose Place than Dracula.

5.  Where was the beast?  Philosophically, K:tE made a big deal about the whole "A beast I am, lest I become."  However, except for a couple Brujah versus Gangrel mean girl looks across the club, there wasn't much to write home about.  How about some Kindred frenzy?  I wanted to see the dark animal below their vampiric surface.  Dexter is more beast than these guys.

6.  Where was the blood?  I think there was a little red stuff here and there - badly dabbed on an actor's skin after a fight scene - but I wanted so much more!  Blood is the essence of a vampire's (un)life.  It's like sex, drugs, and rock n' roll all symbolically wrapped up into one powerful thing.  The lack of crimson joy, again, made the series look less like Dracula and more like Melrose Place.

7.  Phosphorescent guns!  These were somehow large Tommy-style guns that could hurt or kill a vampire.  Yeah, I get the idea, why the writer(s) wanted it, suspension of disbelief, etc.  But... no.  That's just stupid and takes away from the Kindred's mystique.  If you want a vampire dead, you hunt him down and stake him in the heart, chop his head off with a sword, or burn him alive.  Probably all three, just to make sure.  Some Kindred died in the traditional ways, which was nice, but those phosphorescent guns were way too prominent.

8.  C. Thomas Howell's acting.  I know he can act.  I've seen it.  Plus, he's been in a thousand different things.  Howell is not really watchable here.  Almost so bad it's good levels... but not quite.

9.  I didn't realize how much of a launching pad K:tE was for a lot of great shows.  Ok, three of them:  Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Dexter.  Hmm, all of those shows are the first names of the protagonist.  Anyway, half the cast is recycled between the three.  Yeah, this isn't really a reason why K:tE didn't last, I just wanted to mention it.

10.  No sense of mystery, the supernatural and unknown which man cannot fully explain.  Maybe, the writers and producers were going to wait for season 2 before bringing up the "why" of vampires instead of focusing only on the "what".  Or, maybe it never occurred to them.  I wanted something deeper.  Sure, a couple plot hooks were there: drinking a baby's blood by the full moon around some standing stones to bring back the old ways of the Nosferatu, but that was just an episode and it was never expanded.  Cool idea, no legs.


Well, that's it for this blog post.  Still, for all its faults, Kindred: the Embraced was a good show back in 1996, just as it is now.  Worth watching if you're going to run/play the RPG.  Want to talk about anything Vampire-related?  Comment below!


VS

p.s.  Expect to see more blog posts about Vampire: the Masquerade and Requiem in the coming months.