A Tale of Blood and Smoke (VtR 2e) -Now Accepting Characters!-

[Datawych]

You've been outside this delightful little cafe for the better part of an hour and a half now, though you've not had a sip of coffee. The potted plant next to you has been remarkably well-fed, as you keep asking for refills. The pastry in front of you has not entered your mouth but once, but you've occupied yourself peeling off the thin layers of its 'skin', casually flicking them away to be carried away on the breeze.

No, your attention here is not on the patisserie, but on that church on the other side of the piazza. That maginificent stone building. That edifice of religion. That monument to faith. In your breathing days, you used to attend - regularly, of course - you took the sacrament, you spoke the words. But you weren't there because you were a believer - you were there because of a woman.

As you so often were in life, you were often dragged from pillar to post by your devotion to certain females. Not one of them ever knew your name, not one of them ever deigned to speak to you, but you would get to know them, you'd get to follow them, know where they lived, know what their interests were. You'd like to examine them - every inch, if you could - but often your gaze was thwarted by clothing, curtains, or... other.

Now, you've occupied so much of your time being dead sitting in this cafe, watching this woman across the piazza whenever she leaves the church at nighttime, looking through the fountain's spray of water at her majestic frame as she makes her way over to the bus stop... Still, she would not recognize you, she would not know your name, but still, you are obsessed. Even in death, even now that you're a blood-drinker.

It's not even necessarily that you want to tell her how much you feel - you've never told a woman how you feel, because you've never had the confidence to tell a woman how you feel. But this one, this one's special. This is the one you were obsessed with when you died, when you were brought back. She's always had a place in your heart. You knew that she was a missing piece of the puzzle - missing piece of your puzzle. You know somehow she's a touchstone; she's keeping you on the straight and narrow, she's 'keeping you on the path of righteousness', the Beast might say.

And you can't help but get to your feet as you see the congregation spilling out into the piazza. You can't help but kick your chair back and lay cash on the table as you see her make her way past the fountain, illuminated in the moonlight - that sprinkle of water just making her frame hazy with beauty.

You'd love to taste her. You'd love to taste her blood.

You'd sworn off drinking blood from humans... after the... first time. You've only been a vampire for the past 3 years, and you've largely subsisted off of dogs, rats, and the like. But... The one time you tried to feed from a mortal, it just went horribly wrong... The human, he bled out, he was exsanguinated. You didn't know what to do - you didn't know the correct procedure. When your sire found out, he just laughed.

"Stupid girl. You can - heh - fix this, but first we need to put this body in a shallow grave, a long way away from the city. And not tell anyone about it."

And so that's what you did. You buried the poor man fairly deep and tried to put it from your mind, but still, the only blood you've been drawn to since that time is that of your beloved, that of the victim of your obsession - the woman you wish you could express your 'true feelings' for. And as you start making your way across the piazza - as you so often do - hoping against hope that you might catch up with her, hoping that you might pluck up the courage to tell her that for so long, you've loved her.. your eyes get drawn a few paces back. Your eyes get drawn to a man, keeping in lockstep with the object of your obsession, his eyes burrowing into the back of her head.

He's watching her, his eyes flashing with a strange yellow tint, even under the white-blue LEDs of the modern streetlamps. His skin pale, waxy... You could perhaps mistake him for one of your own kind, except when you examine him closely, you're not so sure.

There's a flicker of recognition. If you could gasp with surprise, you would. No... This man who's following her, this is the man you killed. Very much by accident, but here is the man you slew, whose blood you drained and watched die. This was over a year ago. He can't be a vampire, can he? He doesn't show the semblace of a vampire as you look at him, as you focus on him.

Your mind goes back to something your sire once told you, of the things even monsters fear. Things possessed of nothing but malevolence, who seek nothing more or less than to destroy us and everything we still pretend to love.

This was a nightmare... A bogeyman tale. Something meant to keep you awake during the day. You felt your sire was always laughing at you.

But now you're not so sure. And he seems to be speeding up to catch up with her. Your greedy heart pumps the Vitae through your body. You know she's in danger. You know you need to save her, but then you see him. He turns his head in a very unnatural fashion, continuing much further over his shoulder than should be possible, a bit like an owl might, and...

He grins. Straight at you. He knows you're watching. He knows he can reach her before you can. You sprint across the piazza towards her... To safeguard her. To ward her.

Will you reach her in time? Or will she just be blood, spilt on the cobblestones, beneath the moonlight?

Vampire: The Requiem

Vampire: The Requiem is a game of personal horror; a game that forces its players to give serious thought to how a Man becomes a Monster. When eternity comes knocking, what ideals will you compromise in the name of survival? In the name of passion? How will you cope with the dark predilections that now exist at the edge of your consciousness? How do you deal with watching everything you love eventually wither and die?


As is likely to happen with group games on E, people lose interest/disappear/forget, so he we are again! Our other PCs are still in their formative stages - you won't be joining an ongoing game, just FYI.

Seeking: 1-2 additional player characters for a game Vampire: The Requiem, second edition. A knowledge of VtR or other White Wolf/Onyx Path games preferred, but not required. Please note that VtR (particularly second edition) is very experimental when it comes to the Player Character-Gamemaster relationship, and the PCs are more responsible for contributing to the game world than in most other RPGs.

[Rook Seidhr]

Since lockepick folded his nascent VtR2e game, may I app my character from that game? I know enough about him (and have it written down well enough) that I should be able to answer the Ladder questions more easily than I could with Dr. Straley.

[Datawych]

Since lockepick folded his nascent VtR2e game, may I app my character from that game? I know enough about him (and have it written down well enough) that I should be able to answer the Ladder questions more easily than I could with Dr. Straley.

Sure. Go with the character you think you'll be able to make the most interesting.

[Lemon Lime]

I am super interested in this. I don't know a lot about VtR but I am willing to learn/read. I haven't done a vampire story in awhile and I've been craving it like crazy. What do you need from me, and what world information should I have to build a character?

[Datawych]

I am super interested in this. I don't know a lot about VtR but I am willing to learn/read. I haven't done a vampire story in awhile and I've been craving it like crazy. What do you need from me, and what world information should I have to build a character?

Damn, I wish I had saved the old verbage I used for the super-light version of the character sheet...

IIRC, it was something like

Name:
Clan:
Mask:
Dirge:
Concept:
Mask + Dirge:

Concept should be a 1- or 2-sentence description of the overarching idea of your character. Try to be as descriptive as you can in those two sentences. And for 'Mask + Dirge', explain why you picked your character's Mask/Dirge combo, and why you think combo would make for an interesting monster.

We don't have a fully-built world yet (there's a process in the VtR 2e rulebook that we're using to help populate our city with colorful NPCs and stuff), but I can tell you that it's set on Oahu. Honolulu is the main city the PCs are going to be in, but I have ideas that could take them all over the island.

[Lemon Lime]

Awesome! I will get working on this asap and PM it to you. Do you have any sites to get more info on the clans and such? I was just going to google it and go from there - and if there are any issues I will adjust accordingly. Is it possible to see another character sheet as an example to make sure I get the right idea? I like to be accurate and make sure I'm on the same page as everyone else. Thanks!

[Rook Seidhr]

I don't think you can get by without a copy of the Vampire: the Requiem Second Edition rulebook (emphasis on the "Second Edition": the old one will be less than no use).

(EDIT: Likewise, Vampire: the Masquerade will do you no good.)

[RubySlippers]

Yes you NEED the Second Edition to play this, its very different from the first set of rules which were fine just different.

[Lemon Lime]

Yes you NEED the Second Edition to play this, its very different from the first set of rules which were fine just different.

Just looking stuff up online has proven you guys very correct. I'll bow out and let someone else take the spot. :)