Faulty
2010-05-23, 04:43 PM
EDIT: I've decided to disallow Nosferatu and Malkavian.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is an action RPG from 2004, set in White Wolf's World of Darkness/Vampire: The Masquerade universe. It's canon for the universe (despite the fact that Gangrel are included in the Camarilla), and uses a stream lined version of White Wolf's game system. It was developed by Troika Games and was the first non-Valve game developed using Valve's Source engine. In fact, it came out the same day as Half-Life 2. The game is unfortunately bug ridden, and didn't get the treatment it deserved. In fact, Troika went under soon after. Despite its problems however, it's still a fantastic game that's deserves playing and appreciation. I'm using a fan made patch to fix some bugs, and would like to do a let's play for you! It will be on the screen cap variety, given that a lot of the game is chatting and role playing.
Anyway, before you play the game, you obviously have to make a character. I'll probably play a female character, but I'll leave clan choices (mostly) up to you. First, some explanation of stat arrays: all characters attributes and abilities, and different clans are strong in different categories.
The attributes are: Physical (Strength, Dexterity, Stamina), Social (Charisma, Manipulation, Appeareance), and Mental (Perception, Intelligence, Wits).
The abilities are: Talents (Brawl, Dodge, Intimidation, Subterfuge), Skills (Firearms, Melee, Security, Stealth), and Knowledges (Computer, Finance, Investigation, Scholarship).
A few things you should know: Perception improves ranged combat, not Dexterity; Manipulation only improves Haggle (lets you buy for less and sell for more); Subterfuge only affects Seduction; Intelligence influences Intimidation, not Charisma or Strength; Security improves lock picking; Computer improves hacking; and Scholarship lets you read books that improve your abilities.
And without further ado, the playable clans are...
Brujah
Brujah are hot-blooded idealists and dissidents. Their numbers include rebels with and without causes. Many of them strive towards an anarchic vampire utopia and are genuinely passionate about their causes.
Bonus: +1 to their Unarmed feat (fist fighting).
Weakness: -2 to frenzy checks (when you frenzy, you gain stat bonuses but lose control of your character as s/he goes crazy).
Disciplines: Brujah have access to Celerity (allows you to move supernaturally fast in a bullet-time-esque fashion), Potence (adds extra strength to melee and unarmed attacks, the extra damage of which cannot be defended against) and Presence (enemies around you take penalties to certain stats and have a chance of being mesmerized).
Attributes Distribution: Physical, Mental, Social.
Abilities Distribution: Talents, Skills, Knowledges.
Gangrel
Gangrel are the most in touch with The Beast within every vampire. This connection to their animalistic nature allows them to shapeshift into beastly forms, and use the power of nature for super natural feats. They tend to be loners and individualists who spurn vampire politics, and prefer the outskirts of society.
Bonus: +5 to Strength, Stamina and Wits when frenzying.
Weakness: -1 on all frenzy (see Brujah) checks.
Disciplines: Gangrel have access to Animalism (grants supernatural abilities like Nightwisp Ravens, which summons ethereal ravens to distract an enemy, and Bats' Communion, which causes ghostly bats to suck enemies' blood and bring it back to you), Fortitude (allows you to shrug off more damage), and Protean (lets you shapeshift, gaining heat vision, stat bonuses and eventually claws which deal aggravated damage, making them good unarmed fighters).
Attributes Distribution: Physical, Mental, Social.
Abilities Distribution: Skills, Talents, Knowledges.
Malkavians
Malkavians are incurably insane, with each Malkavian displaying some sort of lunacy or mental condition. They have flashes of "insight" which gives them great knowledge, but their insanity makes their world alien and difficult to comprehend for others. Their madness can be a blessing and/or curse depending on how it manifests and how they handle it.
Bonus: +2 to Inspection feat (puts motes of light over hard to notice things).
Weakness: Their insanity leaves them with a unique set of often odd dialogue options which range from funny to insightful.
Disciplines: Malkavians have access to Auspex (gives bonuses to Wits and, as you increase it, Perception, and allows you to see the auras of all living and undead creatures in a certain radius), Dementation (pours the madness from the Malkavian's mind into the minds of others, grants abilities like Hysteria, which causes someone to become paralyzed with laughter, to Vision of Death, which causes an opponent to die instantly, to Bedlem, which causes a group to succumb to a random Dementation) and Obfuscate (allows you to become invisible, eventually allowing you to move will invisible, perform stealth kills will invisible, and deal extra damage when attacking in melee out of invisibility).
Attributes Distribution: Mental, Social, Physical.
Abilities Distribution: Knowledge, Skills, Talents.
Nosferatu
Nosferatu are hideously warped by vampirism, and are forced to stick to the shadows. They often live in sewers, and have become adept at collecting information and sneaking, becoming the eyes and ears of the Camarilla (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camarilla_%28World_of_Darkness%29#Camarilla).
Bonus: Gain extra blood when feeding from rats.
Weakness: Permanently have an Appearence score of 0; they are so hideous that being seen on the street is a Masquerade violation, so they have to travel via sewer system.
Disciplines: Animalism (see Gangrel), Obfuscate (see Malkavian), Potence (see Brujah).
Attributes Distribution: Mental, Physical, Social.
Abilities Distribution: Skills, Knowledges, Talents.
Note: Nosferatu would not give the best idea of the game for someone who hasn't played it so I may veto a vote to play Nosferatu. If you vote Nosferatu, give me a second choice as well.
Toreador
Toreador are the artistes and visionaries of the vampire world. They're the most in touch with the human world, and see themselves as connoisseurs who savour the delicacies of every age. They're incredibly emotional and empathic, and have a weak spot for beauty. The high society mentality of the Camarilla tends to be a comfortable fit for them.
Bonus: They start with a +1 to Appereance.
Weakness: Their empathic nature makes all gains or loses of humanity doubled.
Disciplines: Auspex (see Malkavian), Celerity (see Brujah), Presence (see Brujah).
Attributes Distribution: Social, Mental, Physical.
Abilities Distribution: Talents, Knowledges, Skills.
Tremere
Tremere practice Thaumaturgy and are kind of like vampire mages. I finished the game was one recently, however, and would like to play a different clan, so voting for Tremere is off limits.
Ventrue
The vampire nobility. They lead the Camarilla and whole heartedly support the masquerade and have a hand in influencing the worlds of both the living and the dead. Even fledgling Ventrue can expect special treatment in vampire society.
Bonus: +1 to Charisma.
Weakness: They can't feed on rats and feeding on prostitutes and homeless people can make them vomit (woo, classism!).
Disciplines: Ventrue have access to Dominate (gives them access to things like Trance, which makes an opponent fall into a trance and remain motionless and unaware, or Possession, which causes an opponent to fight for you and then have a heart attack and die), Fortitude (see Gangrel) and Presence (see Brujah).
Attributes Distribution: Social, Mental, Physical.
Abilities Distribution: Knowledes, Talents, Skills.
Give me your vote, and suggestions as to what kind of character I should play. As far as what gameplay lets you do, so you have an idea of what kind of character I can make:
You can persuade, intimidate, seduce and supernaturally dominate (Malkavian, Tremere and Ventrue only) people in conversation. You can fight using disciplines, firearms (first person) or unarmed/melee weapons (third person). You can hack, lock pick and sneak to get what you want or get where you need to go. This opens up a lot of possibilities!
So... shoot!
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is an action RPG from 2004, set in White Wolf's World of Darkness/Vampire: The Masquerade universe. It's canon for the universe (despite the fact that Gangrel are included in the Camarilla), and uses a stream lined version of White Wolf's game system. It was developed by Troika Games and was the first non-Valve game developed using Valve's Source engine. In fact, it came out the same day as Half-Life 2. The game is unfortunately bug ridden, and didn't get the treatment it deserved. In fact, Troika went under soon after. Despite its problems however, it's still a fantastic game that's deserves playing and appreciation. I'm using a fan made patch to fix some bugs, and would like to do a let's play for you! It will be on the screen cap variety, given that a lot of the game is chatting and role playing.
Anyway, before you play the game, you obviously have to make a character. I'll probably play a female character, but I'll leave clan choices (mostly) up to you. First, some explanation of stat arrays: all characters attributes and abilities, and different clans are strong in different categories.
The attributes are: Physical (Strength, Dexterity, Stamina), Social (Charisma, Manipulation, Appeareance), and Mental (Perception, Intelligence, Wits).
The abilities are: Talents (Brawl, Dodge, Intimidation, Subterfuge), Skills (Firearms, Melee, Security, Stealth), and Knowledges (Computer, Finance, Investigation, Scholarship).
A few things you should know: Perception improves ranged combat, not Dexterity; Manipulation only improves Haggle (lets you buy for less and sell for more); Subterfuge only affects Seduction; Intelligence influences Intimidation, not Charisma or Strength; Security improves lock picking; Computer improves hacking; and Scholarship lets you read books that improve your abilities.
And without further ado, the playable clans are...
Brujah
Brujah are hot-blooded idealists and dissidents. Their numbers include rebels with and without causes. Many of them strive towards an anarchic vampire utopia and are genuinely passionate about their causes.
Bonus: +1 to their Unarmed feat (fist fighting).
Weakness: -2 to frenzy checks (when you frenzy, you gain stat bonuses but lose control of your character as s/he goes crazy).
Disciplines: Brujah have access to Celerity (allows you to move supernaturally fast in a bullet-time-esque fashion), Potence (adds extra strength to melee and unarmed attacks, the extra damage of which cannot be defended against) and Presence (enemies around you take penalties to certain stats and have a chance of being mesmerized).
Attributes Distribution: Physical, Mental, Social.
Abilities Distribution: Talents, Skills, Knowledges.
Gangrel
Gangrel are the most in touch with The Beast within every vampire. This connection to their animalistic nature allows them to shapeshift into beastly forms, and use the power of nature for super natural feats. They tend to be loners and individualists who spurn vampire politics, and prefer the outskirts of society.
Bonus: +5 to Strength, Stamina and Wits when frenzying.
Weakness: -1 on all frenzy (see Brujah) checks.
Disciplines: Gangrel have access to Animalism (grants supernatural abilities like Nightwisp Ravens, which summons ethereal ravens to distract an enemy, and Bats' Communion, which causes ghostly bats to suck enemies' blood and bring it back to you), Fortitude (allows you to shrug off more damage), and Protean (lets you shapeshift, gaining heat vision, stat bonuses and eventually claws which deal aggravated damage, making them good unarmed fighters).
Attributes Distribution: Physical, Mental, Social.
Abilities Distribution: Skills, Talents, Knowledges.
Malkavians
Malkavians are incurably insane, with each Malkavian displaying some sort of lunacy or mental condition. They have flashes of "insight" which gives them great knowledge, but their insanity makes their world alien and difficult to comprehend for others. Their madness can be a blessing and/or curse depending on how it manifests and how they handle it.
Bonus: +2 to Inspection feat (puts motes of light over hard to notice things).
Weakness: Their insanity leaves them with a unique set of often odd dialogue options which range from funny to insightful.
Disciplines: Malkavians have access to Auspex (gives bonuses to Wits and, as you increase it, Perception, and allows you to see the auras of all living and undead creatures in a certain radius), Dementation (pours the madness from the Malkavian's mind into the minds of others, grants abilities like Hysteria, which causes someone to become paralyzed with laughter, to Vision of Death, which causes an opponent to die instantly, to Bedlem, which causes a group to succumb to a random Dementation) and Obfuscate (allows you to become invisible, eventually allowing you to move will invisible, perform stealth kills will invisible, and deal extra damage when attacking in melee out of invisibility).
Attributes Distribution: Mental, Social, Physical.
Abilities Distribution: Knowledge, Skills, Talents.
Nosferatu
Nosferatu are hideously warped by vampirism, and are forced to stick to the shadows. They often live in sewers, and have become adept at collecting information and sneaking, becoming the eyes and ears of the Camarilla (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camarilla_%28World_of_Darkness%29#Camarilla).
Bonus: Gain extra blood when feeding from rats.
Weakness: Permanently have an Appearence score of 0; they are so hideous that being seen on the street is a Masquerade violation, so they have to travel via sewer system.
Disciplines: Animalism (see Gangrel), Obfuscate (see Malkavian), Potence (see Brujah).
Attributes Distribution: Mental, Physical, Social.
Abilities Distribution: Skills, Knowledges, Talents.
Note: Nosferatu would not give the best idea of the game for someone who hasn't played it so I may veto a vote to play Nosferatu. If you vote Nosferatu, give me a second choice as well.
Toreador
Toreador are the artistes and visionaries of the vampire world. They're the most in touch with the human world, and see themselves as connoisseurs who savour the delicacies of every age. They're incredibly emotional and empathic, and have a weak spot for beauty. The high society mentality of the Camarilla tends to be a comfortable fit for them.
Bonus: They start with a +1 to Appereance.
Weakness: Their empathic nature makes all gains or loses of humanity doubled.
Disciplines: Auspex (see Malkavian), Celerity (see Brujah), Presence (see Brujah).
Attributes Distribution: Social, Mental, Physical.
Abilities Distribution: Talents, Knowledges, Skills.
Tremere
Tremere practice Thaumaturgy and are kind of like vampire mages. I finished the game was one recently, however, and would like to play a different clan, so voting for Tremere is off limits.
Ventrue
The vampire nobility. They lead the Camarilla and whole heartedly support the masquerade and have a hand in influencing the worlds of both the living and the dead. Even fledgling Ventrue can expect special treatment in vampire society.
Bonus: +1 to Charisma.
Weakness: They can't feed on rats and feeding on prostitutes and homeless people can make them vomit (woo, classism!).
Disciplines: Ventrue have access to Dominate (gives them access to things like Trance, which makes an opponent fall into a trance and remain motionless and unaware, or Possession, which causes an opponent to fight for you and then have a heart attack and die), Fortitude (see Gangrel) and Presence (see Brujah).
Attributes Distribution: Social, Mental, Physical.
Abilities Distribution: Knowledes, Talents, Skills.
Give me your vote, and suggestions as to what kind of character I should play. As far as what gameplay lets you do, so you have an idea of what kind of character I can make:
You can persuade, intimidate, seduce and supernaturally dominate (Malkavian, Tremere and Ventrue only) people in conversation. You can fight using disciplines, firearms (first person) or unarmed/melee weapons (third person). You can hack, lock pick and sneak to get what you want or get where you need to go. This opens up a lot of possibilities!
So... shoot!