VtM 20th - Chargen + system questions.

[Theorac]

My original character (investigator with dominate) kicked the bucket and work interfered, so I had to bow out of the campaign. However, now I'm available and they do need players, so its time for chargen again.

Been reading and I have some questions:


Since they do less damage, is a firearm centered character still viable (or is going melee king)? If yes, what skills and disciplines should I focus on?
I've heard that Obfuscate is less practical against other vampires due to Auspex. Is the balance of power equal or does Auspex easily counter Obfuscate at similar (lower) levels?
About Obfuscate 2 (Unseen presence). Does carrying a weapon openly count as 'Attracting attention' ?


Thinking of making a cookie cutter melee+presence character, but melee has never been my 'thing'.

Note: I've been informed by a fellow player that, I'm able to purchase into disciplines from other Camarilla clans now, compared to the 'strictly from your clan only' earlier.

Advice, answers, feedback would be much appreciated!

[comicshorse]

2) If the other Vampire has equal Auspex to your Obfuscate then there is a roll to see if the Auspex user sees through the Obfuscate. If the Auspex is of a higher level than they see through automatically.
Still Obfuscate will always work on ghouls, mortals and Vampires with lower Auspex or none at all

3) Thats a GM call. I said carrying it wouldn't but using it definitely would

[The Glyphstone]

Buying 'out-of-clan' disciplines requires a teacher who has it in-clan, and you need to drink a trait of their blood (enough to raise your bond level to them a step), IIRC. Was that now how it worked in older editions?

On the gun, I'd say it depends. Wearing it openly in a holster, probably not. Carrying it around in your hand, definitely.

[Theorac]

Thanks for replying. Ah, guns seem iffy to use here, so I guess melee is the way to go.

On that note, are swords or claws better?

[The Glyphstone]

Claws do agg. Claws also basically require you to be a Gangrel...you can learn Protean out of clan, but that A) requires you to find a Gangrel to teach you, and B) requires you to keep it secret from Clan Gangrel in general, since most clans are very protective of their proprietary disciplines and aren't adverse to killing people with 'their' secrets.

Swords do lethal, but anyone can have a sword. If you're not a Gangrel or Caitiff with Protean, I'd stick with the sword.

[Need_A_Life]

Since they do less damage, is a firearm centered character still viable (or is going melee king)? If yes, what skills and disciplines should I focus on?
Shotguns to the face tends to be rather nasty (8B turned to 8L due to shooting the head). If you can get your hands on incendiary rounds, grenades or similar nastiness, it'll only get nastier from there.
Crossbows shooting wooden bolts are nice, if you have a good dice pool for it (staking at range? I'll take three).


I've heard that Obfuscate is less practical against other vampires due to Auspex. Is the balance of power equal or does Auspex easily counter Obfuscate at similar (lower) levels?
Equal ratings of Obfuscate and Auspex leads to a roll-off. There's a sidebar on the subject, IIRC.


About Obfuscate 2 (Unseen presence). Does carrying a weapon openly count as 'Attracting attention' ?
In a holster? Perhaps, depending on the area and context.
In hand? Usually, yes. At a shooting range or other places where plenty of people are doing similar things. When you point that gun at someone who's looking right at you, however? That's definitely attracting attention.


Thinking of making a cookie cutter melee+presence character, but melee has never been my 'thing'.Potence, assuming that's what you meant, is nice and useful, but I'm (somewhat ironically) more a fan of Presence 2 for combat. Reducing your enemy to a crying mess soiling themselves is just too good to pass up.


Note: I've been informed by a fellow player that, I'm able to purchase into disciplines from other Camarilla clans now, compared to the 'strictly from your clan only' earlier.
Celerity is king in combat. Presence is similarly useful in social situations. Then we've got Auspex for investigation.
In short, whether or not you're actually a Toreador, you'll want to be one. :smalltongue:

[WinWin]

It has been a while since I have played any WoD.

Weapons are primarily an issue of Masquerade. Gunfights draw attention. Swordfights draw lots of attention. Growing claws or Telekinetically absorbing blood from across the street require the men in black to come and perform a psy-op cleanup and confiscate everyones camera phone.

That said, all vampires have an aggravated damage source with their bite. Blood drain is unsoakable damage for most mortals. Firearms have the advantage of range and forcing self control/instincts tests at range.

Presence is a good discipline. Maxxed out and you can force opponents to spend willpower if they want to disagree with you, let alone get hostile. You can also attract a lot of servants and potentially cultivate a lot of influence.

Thaumaturgy is another good discipline that offers a diverse array of masquerade-breaking powers that seemed to increase with every splat book.

Dementation is also pretty powerful. Mastery of this discipline is the only reason anyone takes FishMalks seriously. Psychological damage and emotional control is not to be taken lightly. Making people go crazy does not harm the masquerade in the same way other disciplines can.

Or just mix celerity and potence. The hold/clinch + bite actions only requires a single point in celerity to complete in a single combat round, with full dice pools. Depending on freebie point expenditure, including merits and flaws, you can afford 4 or 5 levels of potence to go with that. More than enough to kill anything without fortitude, in any event.

Personally, I liked spending my freebies on extra backgrounds, like resouces, retainers and influence. But depending on the campaign, that may not be a worthwhile option.