New to Vampire: The Masquerade

[Chained Birds]

I have a friend who does a Vampire game bimonthly and has nothing but good things to say about it. He has a good group of 10 or so players and at least one of them is the GM (Or the Vampire version of a DM respectively) and has asked my friends and I to join them.
Now as a person with little to no experience in Vampire, and a decent amount in 3.5 and PF D&D, what would I be getting myself into? Would it be completely alien to D&D with no similarities (Gameplay/Character Creation wise)?

My other question is what class or character build should I go with? I'm not sure if they use a lot of books, a I've only seen him carrying around a very worn book (I think it's Vampire's Player's Handbook) with embarrassing looking character designs and images... No offense. The setting is in an apocalyptic future which I assume resembles the genre this setting would describe (example off the top of my head, Fist of the North Star, bu with Vampires :smallsmile:).

If I do join them, I'd like to play a support type character. I would like him to be able to probably still handle himself if push comes to shove, but he would mainly boost or heal others.
If there is no way to do this, then I guess a basic ranged character would suffice. I here there are firearms and stuff and that would be cool to focus on if a viable strategy.
If this too is not something very useful, then a basic melee... There has got to be one of these right?

I'll try to collect more info if needed and I hope to get some good info from you all.

[W3bDragon]

Well, a simplistic answer can be found in the actual name for the DM/GM you were asking about. He's called the Storyteller (or ST for short). The point is that V:tM, at its core, is about telling a cooperative story. Adventures are called Stories, which are broken down into Scenes.

The basis of the game is to create a character to explore the tragic state of vampires. They are creatures that are endlessly haunted by what they have become, and struggle day by day, century by century, to preserve what little remains of their humanity, a goal in direct conflict with their fundamental need to cause harm to humans just to survive.

Stories usually revolve around a few basics of the setting:

A main one is vampiric politics. There are vampiric rules, vampire princes and enforcers, citizens and outlaws. A newly made vampire must quickly learn to navigate this new found world of politics lest he finds himself on the wrong side of the wrong vampire, and find that immortality isn't assured when you make the wrong enemies.

Another staple of V:tM is human interaction. A vampire is a powerful creature. The powers of his body and mind are so vastly superior to humans as to make them look like cattle, and indeed many vampires describe them as such. Yet, those cattle are still extremely dangerous, for they can still walk during the day, while you're bound to a death-like sleep in your sealed coffin. Some vampires enjoy brainwashing a horde of human "cattle" to serve their every need, while others measure their interactions with them very carefully, either of fear of vampires becoming public knowledge, or simply out of compassion for their state. Yet some other vampires shun contact with humans, out of disdain for their weakness, or envy of their livelihood.

All of this encompasses plots and goals that pertain to vampires in general, but each vampire is truly alone in his singular fight against the beast within. A fight very few really win.

When it comes to creating a character, you'll be much better served by creating a persona rather than a build. You don't make melee fighters or ranged casters. Instead you create stories.

You'd make a troubled teenager that joined a secret cult during high school, because it was cool and secret, only to find that the cult leader is a scary, but completely irresistible person who, one night, decides to give you your "final initiation." You go that night hoping for a cool story to blog about, and wake up the next night as a vampire, and your life as you knew it changes forever.

Or you make a celebrity. You're a singer. A superstar. Your records have sold in the millions. You've just begun to get used to your new life as a celebrity, when you get hit by a horrible throat infection that stops you from singing for a long time. Your doctors, very worried about your voice, make you stop performing for a full year. Rumors abound about how you've lost your voice and will never be the same again. You finally make your come back and your voice is as good as ever. The night after your first concert in your comeback tour, a fan visits you in your trailer. He tells you that he had a very hard time living without your beautiful voice this past year, and doesn't want to take the risk of anything happening to it again. He steals you away to his place and makes you into a vampire to preserve your voice forever.

As for character creation, it is much simpler in terms of mechanics, and in fact I find that V:tM mechanics in general to be very elegant. What it lacks in complication, it makes up for in depth of characterization. You can determine everything from your skill at public speaking, to how empathic you are, to your grasp of local law, and ability to handle a computer or a gun.

When it comes to your supernatural abilities, those are usually dictated by your clan. Each clan's bloodline imparts certain abilities. Some overlap, and some don't. Your best bet is to read about the different clans and find one that suits you.

An important point to note is, very few humans choose to become vampires. They usually unwittingly garner the interest of a vampire that decides to turn them into vampires. That can sometimes leave you in interesting spots where the clan you are from wouldn't be one that your character would ever pick given the choice, but he wasn't.

On a personal note, I played V:tM after D&D and found its focus on roleplaying rather than combat to be very refreshing. The lessons I learned from V:tM transfered back to D&D in making deep, complicated characters that were fun to roleplay and interesting to watch.

[Pilo]

There is a few more point to remember:
- Vampire character are fragile.
- Vampire are powerful compared to an human being, you may feel a delusion of power. So watch your steps, try to do not offense others.
- You don't need to be powerful to do things. In a vampire game, people could be of different "level" without harm.
- Rule number one of Vampire : The masquerade : Don't be caught! As in politics, you can steal money, have an extra-conjugal relationship as long as no one knows, it is fine.

[MickJay]

Vampire games tend to be less cooperative than, for example, D&D. It rarely if ever comes to direct, physical confrontation, but more often than not characters will have their own agendas, 'secret' orders, and wouldn't hesitate for long before selling out a fellow 'party' member, if they could benefit from it and get away with it. The vampires group together more because of the shared goal (and possibly for safety) than for any other reason (there are exceptions, some vampire coteries or packs are genuinely close, but that's rare).

Safety is an important thing - vampires, one on one, are much more powerful than mortals, but mortals could still easily wipe them all out if they ever all became aware of their existence (thus the need for masquerade).

There are very few powers that can benefit the group as whole rather than just the vampire using it. Of the disciplines available to the 13 largest clans, i can think of top power of Obfuscate, which is essentially mass invisibility (and wouldn't be available until a dozen sessions or more, if all the player did was spend experience to get it). Chimerstry (illusions) might be used for the benefit of the whole party (but is only available to a neutral clan), and some more obscure Thaumaturgy paths and rituals are somewhat suited to helping others, but not much,either.

To those who played: any thoughts on which clan and which disciplines would work best for a 'support' character? I can't really think of any.

[Chained Birds]

The more I hear stuff about V:tM, the more it seems very opposite to how I play RPGs like D&D. Reasons why I think it doesn't suit me, unless otherwise given example to argue them:

1. These games seem heavy based around deceit and undesirable actions (as seen by the common folk). 80% of the time I play good aligned characters and most of the time when I'm not, I still do mostly good stuff. I can bluff pretty well naturally, but am not completely proficient in it and will most likely reveal my lies later on.
In short, this game seems suited to people who tend to play evil aligned characters without much of a choice due to the whole blood drinking and being in the company of other evils.

2. Seems like support is hardly a road to journey on as this game appears to be tailored to people with a single trick that they'll always use to control everyone else... Though this statement seems pretty mean spirited...
In short, why is support such a tricky subject?

3. Does everyone have to be sorrowful with a dark past? Can't I play a character with an upbeat personality without it appearing like I'm crazy or tricking people into a false sense of security? I usually play bright characters with colorful personalities, and this game seems very depressing...
In short, this game seems against characters who smile because they are happy and not because they are plotting or are about to do, are doing, or have done an evil act.

[Totally Guy]

It's like that because that's what the game is about. It's not really for me(for different reasons), I guess it's not for you either.

[W3bDragon]

1. These games seem heavy based around deceit and undesirable actions (as seen by the common folk). 80% of the time I play good aligned characters and most of the time when I'm not, I still do mostly good stuff. I can bluff pretty well naturally, but am not completely proficient in it and will most likely reveal my lies later on.
In short, this game seems suited to people who tend to play evil aligned characters without much of a choice due to the whole blood drinking and being in the company of other evils.

Well, you'd be playing a vampire. Any normal person would fear and hate you if he knew what you were, so of course some deceit is necessary for basic survival. You don't have to be the perfect lying machine to survive. In fact you can play basically anything you want, as long as you keep in mind what it means to be a vampire.


2. Seems like support is hardly a road to journey on as this game appears to be tailored to people with a single trick that they'll always use to control everyone else... Though this statement seems pretty mean spirited...
In short, why is support such a tricky subject?

When it comes to vampire abilities, you must understand that the supernatural abilities available for vampires were inspired by what vampires could do in classic literature and expanded upon from there. They were not created for combat effectiveness, character balance, or any of these other ideas. In fact, most vampire supernatural abilities are non-combat related. Again, I have to advise you to read the vampire disciplines. Most vampires have anywhere from 1 to 4 disciplines at varying levels of competence.


3. Does everyone have to be sorrowful with a dark past? Can't I play a character with an upbeat personality without it appearing like I'm crazy or tricking people into a false sense of security? I usually play bright characters with colorful personalities, and this game seems very depressing...
In short, this game seems against characters who smile because they are happy and not because they are plotting or are about to do, are doing, or have done an evil act.

You can most definitely play an upbeat character. Here are a couple of examples:

#1:

You're a destitute living on the street. Life couldn't get much worse, but it did. A raging young vampire who lost control of his inner beast tore through your little alleyway and fed on you so much he killed you. The young vampire, horrified by what he has done, decided to turn you into a vampire rather than see you dead. You're now someone with a new lease on (un)life. The whole world is yours. People do what you want them to do just because you tell them and use your sparkly eyes trick. Its fun. Its great.

The vampire that made you gave you a quick run down. Find a safe spot to sleep during the day. Don't show anyone your fangs and stuff, and you'll be okay. You heard that some vampires don't like what they have become. You know the beast and all, but hey, they don't know what it was like to live on the street and eat from dumpsters. They don't know just how lucky they are. You understand how good this gift is, and you're looking for new and interesting ways to have fun in this new life to make up for your old lost one.


#2

You're a beat cop. One of the few still uncorrupted by the rampant crime in the city. Think Inspector Gordon from Batman Begins. You want to do good, but you're just one man fighting against the entire system.

One night, you accidentally run into a fight between two vampires. You think they must be on drugs to be able to move that fast, hit each other that hard, and still not get fazed. You do your best to intervene and stop the fight. One of the vampires hits you so hard that you go flying and smack into a wall. They dismiss you assuming you're done for, but you get back up, dust yourself off, and come at them again. One of the vampires eventually takes a mortal blow and falls. The other looks at you with a glint in his eye.

He says: "Very few people in this town have the balls to stick around after they've seen what you've seen. You don't scare easily. Maybe someone like you could clean up the streets, given the right tools." The vampire then sires you (turns you into a vampire) and gives you a brief rundown of what you have become. You have become the bane of criminals. The unstoppable force that rules the night. Batman has nothing on you.

[MickJay]

No 'support' characters - for a simple reason, vampiric powers don't tend to work in a way that directly supports others; you do what you're good at, and help out in that way.

Healing others is simple and available to everyone - you just feed another vampire your own blood (it's essentially both your stored 'food supply' and 'mana'). Downside is, if you feed another vampire your blood, they become unnaturally loyal to you (and thus any vampire who knows anything about vampires will most likely refuse, unless in most dire circumstances).

Playing good guys is by all means possible, if challenging. Some vampires refuse to drink human blood, persisting only on animal blood. Others only feed on humans who expressed their consent (some vampires have whole 'herds' of mortals who are more than happy to share some of their blood, since, with one exception, having a vampire drink one's blood is an exquisite pleasure).

Vampiric disciplines, though at face value fairly rigid in what they can do, can be used in a lot of creative ways. Disciplines that are most straightforward to use (Potence, Fortitude, Celerity) tend to be most useful in combat, but more subtle ones can be used to achieve many, many things.

Combat doesn't tend to be the focus of the game. Vampires aren't exactly easy to kill, but they have their weaknesses, and strictly speaking, they're more or less at the bottom of the 'supernatural' power scale. Werwolves, mages, wraiths (not to mention demons) tend to be more than enough of a threat for any but the most powerful vampire. Even a well-equipped and well trained mortal can pose a significant threat, though those are rare enough.

A character may well be happy and upbeat, it would all depend on what he made of being Embraced and the extent to which he's enjoying his new unlife (and misses - or not - his previous life). For many, the transition was at least somewhat traumatising, but that's by no means a rule.

Anarchs tend to be the bunch who enjoy their lives the most, without being 'evil'. Camarilla offers a rigid hierarchy, strict laws and order, with all the up- and downsides of that (plus a healthy dose of politicking elders, who more often than not treat newly embraced vampires as pawns). Sabbat vampires tend to embrace their urges, reject Camarilla traditions and tend to view humans as worthless (beside the fact that they're a food source). Anarchs reject both Camarilla hierarchy and Sabbath's brutality, and try to live their unlifes in the way they like, without being ordered around (at least that's what they tend to think of themselves). There are also 4 independent clans, each of which is more or less its own, small faction, and, like anarchs, they usually try to stay out of the Camarilla-Sabbat conflict.

[Civil War Man]

3. Does everyone have to be sorrowful with a dark past? Can't I play a character with an upbeat personality without it appearing like I'm crazy or tricking people into a false sense of security? I usually play bright characters with colorful personalities, and this game seems very depressing...
In short, this game seems against characters who smile because they are happy and not because they are plotting or are about to do, are doing, or have done an evil act.

Welcome to the World of Darkness. Vampire is not necessarily the bleakest setting in the White Wolf universe (Wraith would probably win that prize for the version that includes the Masquerade setting), but it is pretty heavy on navel gazing.

It's not impossible by any means to play an upbeat character, even in Vampire, but you should recognize going in that there will be some inertia. Many other characters (usually npcs, but sometimes pcs depending on the people playing) will view an upbeat vampire as someone who is either crazy, playing a con, or incredibly naive.

I personally like the World of Darkness setting in general (with some caveats when you try to include some of the stupider splat lines), but it's not a setting for everyone, and Vampire is not always the best introduction to it. I'd recommend at least giving it a shot, since you don't lose anything by trying it out. If Vampire turns out to be too somber for you, you may want to at least check out some of the other settings as well. All of the settings are dark to a degree, but I've found that settings like old Werewolf (Werewolf: The Apocalypse), old Mage (Mage: The Awakening), and new Changeling (Changeling: The Lost) can lend themselves to some pretty colorful characters.

[Need_A_Life]

The more I hear stuff about V:tM, the more it seems very opposite to how I play RPGs like D&D. Reasons why I think it doesn't suit me, unless otherwise given example to argue them:It's definitely a different tone, but I've found that all but the most dungeon-crawley players I've met warmed to it surprisingly quickly. My advice is try it for a while and see how it goes.


1. These games seem heavy based around deceit and undesirable actions (as seen by the common folk). 80% of the time I play good aligned characters and most of the time when I'm not, I still do mostly good stuff. I can bluff pretty well naturally, but am not completely proficient in it and will most likely reveal my lies later on.
In short, this game seems suited to people who tend to play evil aligned characters without much of a choice due to the whole blood drinking and being in the company of other evils.That's a different take on the setting than mine, although not an invalid one by any means. I play Vampire and D&D very similarly. I make a character, give him a background appropriate to the setting and then I start playing. Now, World of Darkness is about making a lot of hard choices and I have had characters do things that, out of context, sounds horrible, but were the lesser evils in the end, at least from my perspective.

Sure, I engineered the fall of the Prince, the man to whom I owe my allegience, but he was incompetent in the suddenly-changed political climate and was blocking the way for more competent leaders to take charge.
Sure, I had half-a-dozen vampires who trusted me staked and handed them over to a blood-crazed vampire who was to imprison and guard them, but if I hadn't the Masquerade would have been broken and we'd all have died.
Sure, I lied to my closest allies and had contingency plans to take them down if they wizened up to my actions, but I did so in order to protect inexperienced fledgelings in my care from greater threats.

It wasn't about me being moustache-twirling evil, but rather about me finding myself in tough spots and having to choose. Remove all the supernatural trappings and you'll find the game to be about what choices you're willing to make and what it takes for you to break your own rules.
Fun!


2. Seems like support is hardly a road to journey on as this game appears to be tailored to people with a single trick that they'll always use to control everyone else... Though this statement seems pretty mean spirited...
In short, why is support such a tricky subject?Huh?
I don't see it. Sure, disciplines look really shiney and powerful and, granted, they are. But the players who rely on using disciplines tend to overlook simple solutions. I've done a lot more damage with Resources 4 than I ever did with Dominate 4.
Think creatively, don't be afraid to delegate and make others, PC or NPC, try to convince you to support them when they set out to enact your plan. :smallwink:


3. Does everyone have to be sorrowful with a dark past? Can't I play a character with an upbeat personality without it appearing like I'm crazy or tricking people into a false sense of security? I usually play bright characters with colorful personalities, and this game seems very depressing...
In short, this game seems against characters who smile because they are happy and not because they are plotting or are about to do, are doing, or have done an evil act.That's very much group-dependent.
I've played in groups where people acted like vampirism was the greatest thing since sliced bread and were more like "Superman-with-sunlight-as-kryptonite" than angsty. I've also had a character whose primary motivation stemmed from the death of his lover half a lifetime ago.

Probably my favourite character in the system wasn't a vampire, but a Ghoul to the Giovanni. He was a catholic priest, blood bound to a powerful member of the clan and was continually struggling between the morality he'd built his life upon and the things he was asked to do.
He had no combat skills, period. He had Potence from being a ghoul, but never had reason to use it and one of his proudest moments was ensuring that the family of another player character would be sent to a safe location to safekeep them from that PCs abusive dormitor.

The game is very much about humanity (not the game mechanic, which was poorly thought-out, but the concept) and exploring morality, philosophy and inter-personal relationships in a game medium.
The psychology of it all is what keeps me coming back.

[Pilo]

In a campaign I run as the storyteller, one of my player's character was a very good person, she helps other people, saves all the people of a big bank robbery without harm anyone nor use coercitive power.

So being good is hard but it is doable. Even if many characters are careless of living people or behave like the freaks they are.

[LibraryOgre]

A simple suggestion: Invest in the Merit Common Sense, if the ST doesn't give it to you (which nice STs will for newbies). Common Sense is the bit that says "Uhh, you know it's stupid to drink another vampire's blood, right?", "Eating that burger would be bad. You will vomit a lot.", or "Please tell me you did not just 'flash' the Justicar..."

[Civil War Man]

A simple suggestion: Invest in the Merit Common Sense, if the ST doesn't give it to you (which nice STs will for newbies). Common Sense is the bit that says "Uhh, you know it's stupid to drink another vampire's blood, right?", "Eating that burger would be bad. You will vomit a lot.", or "Please tell me you did not just 'flash' the Justicar..."

I also second this, in a "do what I say, not as I do" way, considering that my first World of Darkness character ever explicitly did not have the Common Sense merit. He really had no idea what he was getting into, and his only defenses were dumb luck and extreme paranoia (which the storyteller made me buy as a merit, because paranoia is not a flaw if they really are out to get you).

And the cherry on top was that this nightmare of a character was a Mage. Good times.

[MickJay]

From what I remember, you could get one form of paranoia as a merit and another as a flaw (and nothing stopped you from getting both). Merit meant a higher than usual caution, flaw meant it was so severe it actually hindered you rather than helped.

[JeenLeen]

As folk have said, you can play an upbeat and even moral character, but in WoD the morality is often grey.

For support, Thaumaturgy can yield some, as mentioned earlier. What would probably be best is to cover areas your allies (those players you plan to work most with, probably your friends) lack. Ask your friends if they have Dominate or Presence, the powers that let you manipulate others' minds. If they don't, you can provide support by providing those. Or you could focus on Potence, Fortitude, and Celerity (try Brujah clan) and be a powerhouse in combat, letting your allies handle the social and more subtle manipulations.
Or maybe you are an expert computer hacker, and help them with that, or know about other supernaturals (Lore knowledge). That's the sort of support I would want in a fellow PC.

I doubt the ST would allow it, but Obeah is a *very* rare Discipline that lets you heal others without risk of blood-bonding. (It's not in the core book.) But vampiric politics probably make it very dangerous for you to possess it, and the setting makes it nigh-impossible that you'd know it, anyhow. But it depends on the group. You could ask.

[Need_A_Life]

Personally, I love Malkavian for a new player.
Auspex and Obfuscate have obvious uses and playing a derangement is always great fun. "Compulsive behaviour" covers a lot of interesting stuff to play around with, as do "suffers from blackouts" for ones that are easy to remember, yet have a decent effect on play.

Of course, regardless of clan, I've never played a VtM character who was entirely sane :smallbiggrin: