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Froogleyboy
2010-03-20, 01:52 AM
Okay, I'm wanting to play a giovanni character in a V:TM game. Does anyone have any advice?

Reluctance
2010-03-20, 02:00 AM
Depends on the other players and the campaign concept. If you're looking for a quick n' dirty, start with something Tremere-ish or a Ventrue-ish and work from there.

Malificus
2010-03-20, 02:41 AM
Make him the secret leader of an international poaching organization.

Dracons
2010-03-20, 02:43 AM
Make him the secret leader of an international poaching organization.

Don't forget that he can bind the creatures he get to magical orbs. So that he can summon them anytime he wants.

Malificus
2010-03-20, 02:45 AM
Don't forget that he can bind the creatures he get to magical orbs. So that he can summon them anytime he wants.

Oh, make him Nosferatu! All that shady mysterious coolness, AND the ability to control animals!

ShneekeyTheLost
2010-03-20, 02:48 AM
Okay, I'm wanting to play a giovanni character in a V:TM game. Does anyone have any advice?

First, you cross the Godfather with Machiavelli. Then expand that concept to someone who schemes and plots with centuries in mind.

Gangrel get their hands dirty. Bruja get their hands dirty. Even the Nosferatu get their hands dirty. You manipulate the pawns on the only board that really matters. Even the so-called 'blue blooded' Ventrue are but amateurs in this larger Game of Games.

Then you tack on the other aspect of the Clan. Even the Tremere cannot fathom the connection with the spirits of the dead you possess. You have information sources that others literally cannot even believe in, much less detect. Plus a handy tool for... other things.

Satyr
2010-03-20, 04:24 AM
Honorable Businessmen and necromancers, that's the Giovanni.
For the Giovanni, the embrace is more like a rite of passage to become a member of the inner circle. You come from a family with many dirty secrets and you grew up with it., all the uncles that only come at night, all the deviants with their morbid humor, the exhumists who work for yet another cousin, and deliver fresh bodies, well, you are pretty much used to it.
As a true Giovanni, you are also a former ghoul, so you knew a lot of these vampire stuff a long time before you become one. And when you are one of the true vampires' bitches (and let's face it, if you are a ghoul, that's a given), they don't hide anything anymore from you. So welcome to the world of summoning the spirits of the dead, casual necrophila (forced upon you) and the lucrative business of selling heroine in schools.
You are a bit jaded. There isn't much that shocks you anymore, because, frankly, you grew up with worse **** than a Toreador hissy fit or snarling Gangrel.

Think about Goodfellas. You are Ray Liotta, and the guy who is played by Joe Pesci? He's 400 years old, and has a room in his mansion where he talks with the guys he has tortured to death - and they answer him back. Oh, and your sister organises a child prostitution ring. Not because of any philosophical issues (that mumbo-jumbo is good enough for the Sabots, the Setites and the other whackjobs) but because it is profitable.

Coidzor
2010-03-20, 04:29 AM
Even the Nosferatu get their hands dirty.

The Nossies are just plain and simple dirty. Considering where a large section of them dwell...

ShneekeyTheLost
2010-03-20, 04:30 AM
The Nossies are just plain and simple dirty. Considering where a large section of them dwell...

Considering just being seen can be construed as a Masquerade violation... do ya blame 'em?

Quincunx
2010-03-20, 05:50 AM
Captain Carrot: While you can be as freakish in outlook and hobbies as you like--nobody ever told you that other families don't take great-grandfather with you everywhere you go, never mind that it's only his skull inside a wax effigy of his head--be unfailingly polite and courteous to everyone you meet. Let yourself be robbed of status and influence or anything else that doesn't imperil your unlife. Of the others you meet, their vampire halves will be unwilling to believe anyone is that careless, whereas their humanity will warm to it and be willing to tell you everything. You don't need to do anything with this info and imperil your aura of innocence; other folk will stampede to your door in order to extract it.

The Businessman, addendum: You never burn bridges with other people, ever, because there is always a deal to be made. Look at the Erfworld strip here, and Charlie.
Page 130:
"Yeah, yeah. . .you turned it into a no-lose situation by joining him."
"Oh no! No, I got paid to turn it into a no-lose situation. :smallsmile:"

The Bruiser: You like beating things up with your ghoul powers, always did. Walls. Dogs. Cars. People. You brag to other people about bullying and hurt. You were muscle. Why in Caine's name were you embraced instead of some book-loving nerd? You hang out with Sabbat, with Gangrel and Brujah, with anyone who also loves to brag about bullying and hurt and kills. If a member of your clan condescends to speak to you, it's only to also find out about the kills of your buddies--and to have an unfriendly chat with the spirits of their victims.

comicshorse
2010-03-20, 09:21 AM
The Giovanni clan weaknesses ( whichever version you use) is a royal pain in the neck ( pun intended). It is far too likely to be obvious, therefore feeding from the dead is much more efficient. Invest in a mortuary and you will have all the blood you need with no headaches. It's also useful for access for 'parts' for your rituals and bodies you can summon spirits from to serve your ends.

Satyr
2010-03-20, 01:13 PM
Why should the Giovanni discriminate a perfectly good enforcer? You need reliable bloodhounds after all, and whom will you trust with your racketeering and professional killing, when not a family member?

Yes, the clan weakness is a problem, but only if you care for the survival of your prey. Otherwise, you just need a good place to dispose the body.

comicshorse
2010-03-20, 01:19 PM
Posted by Satyr

Yes, the clan weakness is a problem, but only if you care for the survival of your prey. Otherwise, you just need a good place to dispose the body.

Where the mortuary helps again:smallsmile:
Seriously though killing every time you feed, is liable to piss off Princes ( though probably more from loss of resources than Humanitarian values). And there is always the small chance you will be caught doing it or tracked down by the police

Semidi
2010-03-20, 05:08 PM
I love Giovanni.

Anyway, some suggestions for the roleplay:

Giovanni are respectable on the outside, but on the inside they give Tzimisce and Toreador anti a run for their money in terms of being ****ed up. However, they're ****ed up in a different way. They screw over the dead, take advantage of the living, and create violence for profit (in both wraiths, cam/sabbat influence, and money).

Giovanni are also racists, antisemitic, misogynists, homophobes, and all together offensive people. I would not suggest really playing one unless those around you are not easily offended.

With regard to their clan weakness:

My current Giovanni is a heroin addict, meaning that he dopes up his victims before feeding. In general he feeds off of those that no one will probably miss much. He also runs a blood drive charity (he takes a significant cut). When he does kill people that he feeds on, he does the ritual where you eat a part of the person's corpse to determine if they came back as a wraith or not. If they have, he adds another to his collection.

In terms of enforcers: That's what the Putanesca family is for (They're the Sicilian branch. They're mostly thugs).

Also look into the various different families. Despite being the same "clan," the Giovanni, Milliners, Dunsirn, etc are all very different in personality.

comicshorse
2010-03-20, 09:02 PM
Also look into the various different families. Despite being the same "clan," the Giovanni, Milliners, Dunsirn, etc are all very different in personality.

Seconded. Each of the different families has a different 'flavour' to them.
I'm particular fond of the the Dunsiryn's an ancient family of Scottish bankers with a history of cannibalism in the family.
I'm playing a dour Scottish police inspector. Mostly honest but always prepared to twist the law to aid the my Clan, family or fellow vampires (of course the latter have to pay)

Froogleyboy
2010-03-26, 04:36 PM
I read the clanbook, and they just don't seem very . . . Mafiaish. For some reason I pictured them as mafia/necromancers

trmptfnfr
2010-03-26, 04:48 PM
The Putanesca, as mentioned previously, are what you want if you're going for mobsters.
The main Giovanni clan are more of an old-blood rich family with an Italian background.

comicshorse
2010-03-26, 07:44 PM
Yep the Putenesca tend to get lumbered with the more directly criminal jobs. In fact I believe that's why the Giovanni accepted them into the Clan
Gnerally the more main stream Giovanni prefer big business to the underworld ( but enjoy having oull in both worlds).And you never now when knowing a White Slaver is going to help your business negotiations:smallsmile:

Mauther
2010-03-27, 01:38 AM
The mafia suggestion is good for the family business feel. The criminal aspect is a pass, but the veneer of respectability and attention to civility all work with the Gio's feel. Also, don't forget the Gio's are the only ones who really understand just how dangerous the afterlife and the restless dead really are. That secret knowledge should be reflected in your actions, assuming your actually a necromancer and not a kneebreaker or moneyman.

Set
2010-03-27, 10:39 AM
Giovanni, unlike most of the other Clans, are very dependent on what sort of rules your ST uses for 'ghosts.' Are they the intangible and invisible entities in the back of some vampire books, or is the ST using full-on Wraiths? If you can call up and bind Wraiths (or Spectres), you've got some serious incredible power, that few if any of your fellow Kindred can even *anticipate,* let alone guard against.

But even the generic 'ghosts' make for excellent spies, and allow a Giovanni to out information-gather an entire Clan of Nosferatu, as the spirits can invisibly follow others, etc.

If you don't want to deal with Necromancy, Dominate is one hell of a great discipline, and being able to turn foes into 'friends,' or just annoying mortal NPCs into kow-towing lickspittles, is fun. Not that you care a whole bunch about Masquerade breaches, but being able to make people help you rob the blood bank (mortician / bank / etc.) and then forget they've ever seen you can be fun. Dominate has its limits against some supernatural targets (such as older vampires), but that doesn't prevent you from having a dozen expendable flunkies lead the assault, by convincing local authorities (through dominate, or just plain-old-subterfuge) that there is a meth-lab or child-slavery ring in the place you need to raid, and letting the SWAT team deal with / trigger / get blowed-up by the foes defensive measures while you and your ghouls (and / or coterie) move into position to take advantage of the distraction.

Both Dominate and Necromancy are great tools for the Vampire who fights in the old traditional ways of 'let's you and him fight, and no matter which of you die first, I win.'

Gnaeus
2010-03-27, 11:10 AM
If someone pisses you off, threaten to bind their spirit into an airport urinal cake for the rest of eternity. If they really hack you off, carry out the threat.

bosssmiley
2010-03-27, 12:59 PM
Okay, I'm wanting to play a giovanni character in a V:TM game. Does anyone have any advice?

Scorsese pics. That is all.

Oh, and Devil's Advocate (demon lawyer does blah, blah heavy-handed devil antics), stars Scarface & Neo.