Vampire: the Masquerade - Milwaukee by Night

[meikle]

Vampire: the Masquerade
Milwaukee by Night

Standard Rambling Introduction & What meikle Thinks About The World of Darkness
Hi, Elliquiy.  It's meikle again!  I want to run Vampire: the Masquerade using the recently released Vampire: 20th Anniversary Edition rules this time!  If you don't have the 20th Anniversary Edition but do have VtM Revised, that's workable, too.  The rules are very similar and where they're not, I'll explain the differences.

There's a lot about the World of Darkness that I don't like.  I'm going to cut out lots of it.  For the purposes of this game, the safest way to go about this is to assume that nothing about the World of Darkness that isn't in the VtM 20th book isn't canon (and some stuff that is in the VtM 20th book won't be canon, either, but none of that should interact with this game.)  The game'll start in 2011; don't assume any metaplot progress at all.  The world hasn't ended yet.

How meikle Runs Her Games
The game is going to be run in a pretty traditional ST/players play-by-post format.  I will provide the world, you'll provide the main characters in the story.  I want each character to be interesting both in a group setting (with the other players) and by themselves (so that they have their own issues and concerns that they can and should interact with when other PCs are busy.)  I want all of the PCs to have their own goals and interests that they'll pursue without being goaded by the plot.

I don't assume any PC will be involved in erotic content.  I don't expect or intend for any player to be involved in scenes that engage their characters in any kind of smutty manner unless they're interested in it.  (The same remains true for me; I won't roleplay sex scenes out unless I'm interested in them.)  Sex isn't the focus here!  I'm perfectly find leaving it out entirely or fading to black instead, if that's how it goes.

A Little Bit About The City of Milwaukee (by Night)
I'm setting this in Milwaukee, but in practice, this World of Darkness Milwaukee will be a darker, more cramped place, with more people, more troubles, and more vampires.  I am a Milwaukee native, as well, which might help.  I love the city when it is dark.

The city will be overpopulated, with a population of about 25 Camarilla vampires (and who knows what else; this doesn't include such potential vampires as Anarchs out of touch with the Cam, Sabbat spies, independents, etc.)  Each of the seven Camarilla Clans are represented in the city to some degree or another, as well as a couple of members of lesser Bloodlines.

The local Camarilla is a little out of hand; the city isn't really meant to support as many vampires as it does (not by Cam standards, anyway), but they do what they can to make it work.  There are lots of individual feuds that cause occasional problems, and cliquishness has found a comfortable place in Milwaukee; at the start of the game, however, things will be shakier and not entirely copasetic.

If there are any other supernaturals in the city, they're not making themselves known.

Who Gets To Play
Me, and nobody else!  No, no, I kid.  I want three players (I always want three players.)  Maybe four, at the most, but only if I'm really totally blown away by that many concepts.  I don't mean that I'm going to take the first three or four players who show up talking about wanting to play Vampire; I'm going to hand-pick three or four players from the people who say they're interested, and if there's not enough interested people with concepts that I like to fill it out, the game probably won't happen at all.  I find that preferable to starting a game and losing interest, though.

If You're Interested
Tell me so!  Tell me what it is you'd like to play, and what makes the character you're interested in playing interesting.  You don't have to open up with a huge background or a character sheet, but having a background in mind helps.  I'm totally happy to answer questions about the city or the people in it to help people develop characters who are engaged with Milwaukee and its denizens and have interesting goals therein.

I usually say don't make sheets yet, but you're welcome to if you want to; it doesn't guarantee you a spot in the game, though!  If you do post a sheet, though, make sure to put it under a spoiler so that it doesn't become an eyesore.

I hope to hear from at least 3 awesome people!

[AndyZ]

Color me interested!  I think I'll try for a Tremere.  It's been a long time since I played one of them.

[Callie Del Noire]

Not sure what I'd want to play. My last attempt at a VtM game ended badly.

[AndyZ]

By the way, anyone interested in pooling backgrounds?

[Starlequin]

Meikle, do you mean 3 players plus ST, or 3 players total? think I would like to join this if theres room, either as a Tori or Nosferatu.

[meikle]

Sorry; I'm used to 'player' being recognized as a term distinct from 'ST' or 'GM' or whatever.  There would be four people total, including myself.

Nothing is full because there have been no players selected yet.

When I do select players, I'll say so in bold so it can't be missed and I'll edit it into the opening post as well.

[NightFall]

Are there dice rolls as well? More a rule-based game than freeform? This is tempting!

[AndyZ]

I'm thinking about Katrina Forbes, a brilliant student who's been brought into the Tremere to learn and advance the ways of Thaumaturgy.  Her sire is the Primogen, one of the few Tremere in the area, and she's currently living in a guest room at his house as she finishes her classes online and doubles in studying about blood magic and the supernatural.

Although not inherently sociable, she tends to see the world as a set of variables, keeping track of people's strengths and weaknesses in order to be able to suggest a proper course of action.

If anyone wants to pool backgrounds, I'll be quite up for it, by the way.

[Edit: Picture changed.  If this one doesn't work either, let me know.]

[meikle]

Are there dice rolls as well? More a rule-based game than freeform? This is tempting!

Yep.  We'll be using Vampire 20th Anniversary Edition, though if you're familiar with older versions of Vampire, you'll be right at home.  If you're not, but you're still interested in the game, I'm sure we can work something out.

Edit: If you're familiar with Vampire: the Requiem, that's probably not too bad either.  The systems aren't the same but they are related.

Edit2: Pantyshot schoolgirl isn't going to cut it.  That isn't the kind of game I'm running.

[AndyZ]

Would you believe I didn't notice the panty shot?  I'll find something else.

[NightFall]

I shall see if I can come up with a character concept. I'm on vacation and do not have my books with me. :D

[Wargtass]

I am intrigued. Been a while since I played, and this is the first time I hear of a 20th Anniversary Edition. What are the most striking edits they have done?

As for the character, I am thinking Malkavian (have actually never tried one). A pretty grounded such, not as aloof as most imagine when they think Malkavian. Focused more on Auspex than Dementation. More of an idealist when it comes to the sect politics, but with a few skeletons in the closet... Yes...

I'll give it some thought and get back with a more fleshed out concept.

[meikle]

I am intrigued. Been a while since I played, and this is the first time I hear of a 20th Anniversary Edition. What are the most striking edits they have done?

I think they changed how actions are split (now you just determine the lowest dice pool you'd have available and split those dice across all of the actions), and they made some changes to Disciplines (Potence is no longer automatic successes on all strength rolls but a passive Str bonus that can be increased to successes with BP, Celerity's extra actions are more costly but it comes with a passive Dexterity bonus, and things like that.) 

It wasn't a very sweeping change.  The VtM 20th book isn't as 'advanced' in the metaplot as Revised is, and the book itself is mostly just a rules compilation.  This works well for my purposes, because I don't like the World of Darkness metaplot (or most of the World of Darkness, for that matter.)

A pretty grounded such, not as aloof as most imagine when they think Malkavian.

Malkavians are cool!  Just don't fall into the trap of making them a joke!  That's never a good thing.

[Miroque]

I´m Awesome, so by the Laws of Awesome, my application is one aswell. (So,  I´m intrested to play. What kind of character, I will not discuss it publicly, as WoD to me, is all about skeletons in the closets..and boons...)

[Wargtass]

I never liked em funny Malks, they gave the rest of the clan a bad name...

What "level" will the character start as? Neonate, Anchillae, even fledgling?

[meikle]

Just standard chargen neonates; 13/9/5, 7/5/3, etc.  I imagine that most characters will be only a few years since their Embrace (the book says starting characters should be <25 years since their Embrace, and that sounds about right.)

[AndyZ]

If we have multiple ideas churning, can we post more than one?

Also, did my PMs go through?

[Miroque]

Alexia deLaunge
Clan: Tremere

Short background (known to anyone who knows anything about Camarilla circles in Milwaukee):
Neonate deLaunge arrived from Berlin at last summer solastice, and was introduced by the (insert head tremere) as his new apprentice. It was also made known, that even she was not his childe, she was to be considered like one. (head tremere) announced, that it was Apprentice deLaunge was to learn the ways of US Camarilla and pledge loyalty to the local Prince and his domain, until the elders deem her fit to lead her own existance and free from Fourth Tradition.

Since the last summer, she´s been living close to (head tremere).

[meikle]

If we have multiple ideas churning, can we post more than one?

Also, did my PMs go through?

If you have other ideas you are free to offer them up.  If you do, it's probably best to make sure that you're offering up interesting + worthwhile characters, though; I've had people just throw me concept after concept and that just annoys me.  That isn't to say you shouldn't offer up alternative ideas if you have them, just that you should flesh them out enough to show that you're not just hoping to get past quality with quantity. :)  I got your messages.  I am dreadfully tight-lipped.  Also I prefer to use the thread.  I guess I should clarify where I was coming from: you offered up a short character blurb and a giant picture of a girl in a miniskirt.  The new picture is better; I'm more interested in her background & interesting things that go on in her unlife than what she looks like (and that goes for everyone; more plot hooks / things for your character to do, the better!)

To Everyone: I have gotten some weird concepts suggested (mostly in PMs) and I'll be straight-forward and say that I'm not running a game for people who have grown jaded with the World of Darkness and want to put their wildest concept to the test!  If your character concept can't play well in a group or is antagonistic to the Camarilla, it's not going to pass muster!  That is to say, I want characters, not gimmicks. :)

[AndyZ]

I should also ask: Miroque, would you mind there being a second Tremere?  I can probably port my idea to Ventrue with a little effort.

[Zaakmaal]

I saw the name of my hometown.  ^_^

I am too involved in other RP's to vie for one of your player slots, but I will be following this. I had no idea there were vampires in Milwaukee. It explains so much.... Why else would the Calatrava look like a giant bat? XD

[RubySlippers]

I should also ask: Miroque, would you mind there being a second Tremere?  I can probably port my idea to Ventrue with a little effort.

I submited a Ventrue concept.

[AndyZ]

I submited a Ventrue concept.

Ah, okay, good to know so I won't make another.  Thank you.

[Miroque]

i have no problems for anoher tremere, on the contrary. Being in same clan is good for RP.

[AndyZ]

Awesome ^_^ I'll start telling more about my concept then.

Katrina is the kind of girl who always loves to find out new things.  Mysteries can be fascinating, but a mystery with no definite answer at the end of the search is simply boring.  It needn't be something incomprehensible or so horrendously archaic that only a Tremere would be interested, however: learning a new spell hold interest as much as a new piece of tech that just came out.

If she could, she would love to get her hands on every new piece of machinery that comes out.  As it is, she usually waits for the big sale following the newer editions.  She never got a chance to pick up an iPad until the iPad 2 made its public appearance, although she's had to get a bigger purse to accommodate the thing.

I would imagine that such incongruous study would be quickly curtailed by her mentor, however, who would want to keep her dutifully focused for hours at a time upon her studies of the arcane.  It's not that she can't focus or isn't interested, it's simply that it's such a huge world out there, and that she's still very young (by Kindred standards especially, which is how she now sees the world) and has so much to learn.

One thing that worries her, however, is anachronization.  At the rate of current technology increase, it would be all too easy for her to fall behind to the level of elders who can't work a phone or figure out a television.  You have to be constantly moving ahead with such matters or else you fall quickly behind.

She still has a number of friends from college with whom she continues to associate from time to time.  For now, they're only her Herd, but someday she hopes for them to be potent allies in the world, perhaps even more if things go just right.  She still pops down from time to time, though as often as not, it's just to check into the university's substantial library.

A little pet project that she's working on at the moment is a sort of Grand Unified Theory.  She wants to know if there's any correlation between magic, science and the Kindred condition, and if such a full crossover can be completely explained.  It seems unlikely, she doesn't really know where to go with such a thing, and she wouldn't dare mention it to her sire without good cause, but it's a little mental itch that's been bugging her the last couple months.

[Miroque]

Katarna could not be more away from Alexia then.

Alexia is old world Tremere. respectful to the traditions and knows that magic is far superior to the modern technology.

Alexia has almost none contacts with the mortal population, as she´s still considered childe in Milwaukee, so her public appearances in Kindred society are her way out from the chantry, unless there are chores for her to do.

OoCly: if we are both accepted to the game, I think we should write more indepth things what goes behind those ward secured walls fo the chantry ..

[AndyZ]

Katarna could not be more away from Alexia then.

Alexia is old world Tremere. respectful to the traditions and knows that magic is far superior to the modern technology.

Alexia has almost none contacts with the mortal population, as she´s still considered childe in Milwaukee, so her public appearances in Kindred society are her way out from the chantry, unless there are chores for her to do.

OoCly: if we are both accepted to the game, I think we should write more indepth things what goes behind those ward secured walls fo the chantry ..

Quite a contrast then, which leaves plenty of room for both of us ^_^

I would imagine that the two both have more in common than they have apart when it comes to social matters, though, especially since both are childer of the Tremere Primogen.  But agreed to figure all that out if we're both accepted ^_^

[Senti]

Well I have offered a few characters.

[meikle]

I am getting a lot of neat characters submitted!  It will be a difficult choice, but I think the submissions are slowing down -- with that in mind, on the evening of Nov 13th (and that's my evening, CST, because I know I got a lot of submissions from people across the pond!), I'll post which players I've hand-picked like a cruel, distant claw-game machine.

[RubySlippers]

Well my character ,unnammed likely something like Dr. Justine Colette, is a small trust fund baby enough money to provide for a 3 Dot Resource lifestyle and used that to work on a medical degree in psychiatry as a specialty before her embrace. She was chosen by an unorthodox Ancilla looking for something different from other Ventrue and found it. My character worked for the last twp decades to combine her formidable education in the human mind with Dominate to be a growing expert in breaking the human mind to her will using Dominate like a scalpel and added to mundane techniques to alter ones views. Although just released and the other Ventrue and the sect considers her a minor vampire below notice she has all the tools to build up a power base over the next century or two. Why blood bond when you can make this mortal a friend, or make this one owe you for debts that they don't or have this mortal fawn over you thinking your the perfect love or just make them drones.

In time her plans are simple have lots of allies, contacts, a few choice retainers and a big herd all adding to her power base and oddly most do so due to something she added. Example if she has an ally what better way to get that police detective to like you then add some debts or add to his or her respect for you say I help cops with emotional issues if they respect her how hard is it to make that more with some Dominate well applied then you have a friend and a friend will do things for you. Then you can make them forget you asked after its done.  ;D

It won't be a blood cult but could be very damned close to one just far more subtly built and managed. mwhahahahahahahahaha

The concept will likely mature but I'm thinking on what to call it if chosen to play.

[meikle]

So many excellent concepts, here and in my inbox.  This is gonna be tough!

[RubySlippers]

No pressure you want to choose mine, you want to choose mine ... (tries using Dominate on the ST)

Damn immune to the Jedi mind trick!

:D

[Miroque]

I send you my character sheet + more detailed information of her background to you. I hope you found storyhook form it... *grins*

[meikle]

I've gone over the concepts that have been submitted and given them all some thought.  I like them all; I appreciate everyone taking the time to offer up their concept, even if I didn't have room for you in the game.

Here are the players & their characters that I've accepted:

Miroque -- Alexia deLaunge
Wargtass -- Ciaphas Morgan
Senti -- Rose Wild

For those of you who are interested, this was the method by which I selected these characters:

I avoided Clan overlap; because there are only 3 players, I didn't want to risk having players focusing on Clan-centric issues to a degree that would alienate the straggler.
I selected characters who had their own kind of issues to handle, things that didn't need to or even shouldn't include the rest of the coterie.
I wanted characters who would cover different strengths when working together in a party, and
I wanted characters who would develop interesting relationships with one another when working together.

I'm not going to lead directly into an IC thread, naturally; instead, we'll discuss things here for a bit, and then shortly I'll start up and OOC thread.

Here are things to discuss:
1: I'm intending to place the whole game into NC-Human.  As I mentioned in the opening post, I don't expect a ton of erotic or smutty content, but it seems to me to be the appropriate place for vampire-themed content to go.  If that doesn't sound right, let me know.
2: You should put out what might be public knowledge to the Milwaukee Camarilla about your character, and maybe start talking to one another about how your characters know each other and start building up hooks in that sense.  I'm of the opinion that a game where the players work together to make an interesting story is the best kind of game, and with that in mind, I hope that we'll all be willing to work together on this kind of thing. :)
3: If you haven't yet, you should make a character sheet and find a way to get it to me; private messages work fine.  You can make your character sheet public, if you like, but that's not necessary.  (I'll say that there's no major need to be especially optimized for combat or whatever; my goal isn't to kill your characters, just to make life interesting for them.)

:)

[Miroque]

Thank you for taking me and good luck to everyone else that got in.

Short about my character (known to all Camarilla):
Alexia deLaunge was announced to the prince (insert name here) few months a go, as being considered an childe, even she clearly was not childe of the (Residental Head Tremere´s name here). It was soon clear, that she was young in vampire age, but knews the right ways to act.

Storyhooks:
*Kindred society hook*
Alexia (being childe on status wise) could be asked to "get to know" the local Kindred society by her (of course busy) mentor, and made it so, she would have "cotterie" of age-appropriate ´friends´.
*Intellectual hook*
(some other PC) might have something (head tremere wants) and Alexia was send to befriend with (said PC)
*Social hook*
Alexia truely befriends (other PC) as she´s quite humane in her ways.

or any other hook you might want to throw at her?

Short list of Alexia "stat"wise:
App spec(Alluring),
Int spec(uncanny memory),
HIGH humanity (8),
Blush of Health Merit.

[Wargtass]

I'll make sure to have it done by tomorrow, for now I have some work to do.  ;D

[Senti]

I'll get a sheet done today.

[Pretty in Pink]

Okay.  I'm going to go out on a limb here, and hope to the gods that you know about the Daughters of Cacophany.

Daughters of Cacophony...  Daughters for a reason.  There was a time when the Daughters allowed males, but when one of them went out of control, the Elders put an end to it, and slaughtered all of the men, making it a Clan law that no male shall EVER be Embraced into the Clan, and that to do so would be treated as the Camarilla treated unrequested Childer: death to both Childe and Sire, no questions asked.

James, however, was always a talented musician, and of course this drew the attention of one of the daughters.  The two did gigs in bars across Milwaukee, performing Pro bono every time.  It was fine for a while, but then James's apartment building was shut down.  Not wanting to see him scrambling to find a place to live and let his music suffer, Elise offered to let him stay in one of the spare rooms of her small three bedroom house.

He accepted, thinking nothing of the fact that the windows were all blacked, and nothing of the fact that there was never real food in the house except for what he brought in from his day job during the week as a cashier at Walgreens/CVS/(whatever there is in Milwaukee).

Things would have been fine, but he began to get curious why his new host never went out during the day, and where she went at night.  So he began to follow her, growing more and more exasperated as she continued to give him the slip.  However, one night, he was attacked by a Ravnos in full blood frenzy.  Elise slew the other vampire, but too late.  James lay dying in the street, his throat ripped out by the other vampire.  Taking the only option to save her partner and crush's life, she Embraced him, making him the first male Daughter of Cacophony in almost three centuries.

Now, he's on the run, attempting to avoid the notice of the higher ups in the city, still doing his gigs at bars and such.  However, he moves around a lot, because he knows that if the Daughters find out Elise made him one of them, it would mean her death AS WELL as his.

So... whaddaya think?

EDIT:  And now upon reading through I realize you've already chosen your players.  Well, I guess I'll go wander and find another home for James, unless you want to make me that maybe fourth player.  Sorry to bother you guys.

[meikle]

Sorry, Pretty!  We are full up.

Nobody complained about NC-Human so that's where I'll start our OOC thread: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=124599.0