(OOC) San Francisco by Night II: A Requiem in Fog

[Bennosuke]

http://i.imgur.com/lO77BTB.jpg

Welcome to the OOC thread for "San Francisco by Night".

1st IC thread is linked here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?532906-(IC)-San-Francisco-by-Night-A-Requiem-in-Fog)

2nd IC thread is linked here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?571119-(IC-2)-San-Francisco-by-Night-A-Requiem-in-Fog&p=23426956#post23426956)

3rd IC thread is linked here (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?618356-(IC-III)-San-Francisco-by-Night-A-Requiem-in-Fog&p=24694532#post24694532)

4th IC thread is linked here! (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?653105-(IC-IV)-San-Francisco-by-Night-A-Requiem-in-Fog&p=25680881#post25680881)

1st OOC thread is linked here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?532651-(OOC)-San-Francisco-by-Night-A-Requiem-in-Fog)

As it is developed, I will use this post to start describing the basic setting of San Francisco. I will go into detail regarding the major districts, and will describe specific important locations, unique to these areas.


To the Kine of the Bay Area, San Francisco is a hub of change, industry and diversity. Cost of living explodes as Yuppie Tech heads and Start Up CEOs turn the city into their nightime playground. Gentrification spreads like a viral rash, displacing whole communities of ethnic and social minorities, and flooding the streets with an unprecedented number of homeless.

But to the Kindred, San Francisco is an ancient Ivory tower, slowly toppling over it's crumbling pillars, no longer able to support its ever growing weight. The Invictus have had a tight hold on the city since the Roaring 20s, but inflexibility and infighting are slowly leading to the Prince's displacement if not assassination. While The Prince, Christoph Gorman, tries desperately to turn his allies and enemies against each other, The Circle, Spear and Rabble are all as likely to topple his reign as his underlings within the Invictus. Nights are dangerous, and violence seems inevitable.

Kindred are also troubled by a rash of unexplained deaths and boogie men, blamed on everything from VII, to the very Fog of San Francisco bay, which some believe can swallow a neonate whole, if alone too late at night. Rumors of End Times are spreading, with references to Star Wormwood, The King in Yellow and the coming of VII.

A quick synopsis of City Politics:
Prince: Gorman was embraced as a young child. Many believe he is over 200 years old, and rumor has it, he has never fallen to Torpor. All Kindred fear his iron fisted rule, which hearkens back to a Feudal King of some backwater country in Eastern Europe. He is a member of the Invictus, and though not its Primogen, plays his sycophantic followers like puppets to maintain his power base. He is supported by his Seneschal, Dennis Collings, who many believe has fallen to the madness associated with his Ventrue background. Those who support Prince Gorman trust in the fact that he has maintained stability in San Francisco for almost a century, and fear that a threat to his power is a threat to the Requiem as "we" know it. Those who oppose The Prince view him as a pathetic dictator trapped in the past and unable to adapt to modern society.

Checking the Prince is his Primogen, made up of the leader of each of the five Covenants.
#Carthean Primogen: Bobby Hutton: 17 y/o black panther party member. Originally radical and violent, Hutton has gained the support of much of the Carthians and receives very strong financial and political support from the Carthian run city of Oakland.

#Lancea Sanctum Primogen: Father Benito Pedro Cambon. Sired in 1791 when the Mission Church was dedicated to the city. Father Skull is feared by all Kindred (some believe even the Prince), for his knowledge of Dark Magic, and his intimidating appearance. Nosferatu with tontured head, crooked broken nose and sunken eyes, though most have never seen his face. Kindred say that if you stare close enough, you can see he has spiders crawling in and out of his skin creating abscess like burrows. Known to wear porcelain Dia De Los Muertos skull mask painted in White black and Red. Also known as Padre Calavera or the Father of Spiders.

#Circle of Crone Primogen: Mother Blackstar (Lara Jackson the Third). Owner of a Vinyard up in Napa, Viticulturist and Botanist. Gangrel. Very young and beautiful. She is aggressive in her attacks on the Prince's character, and regularly calls for his removal from power. Rumor has it that she is bold enough to experiment with the powers of the Fae, in her estate in the Wine Country. Though her Covenant is small in number, there are thousands of rumors about their blood orgies to summon demons, and sacrifices of Neonates to power their Disciplines.

#Ordo Dracule Primogen: Yoshihiro Yamamoto. A Nosferatu who has gathered a cabal of Vampires of primarily Asian descent. Yamamoto avoids city politics, and to a small extent the Ordo members are greatly ostracized from City Politics. Many Kindred are afraid of an inevitable revolt, and there are rumors of the Dracule capturing young Kindred to fuel their arcane experiments.

#Invictus Primogen: (Previously Prince Nicholas D'Agostino) Ozzy Mandius. Ozzy is an elder Nosferatu within The Invictus. Mandius had been a strong supporter of Prince Gorman, and some had rumored was a direct ally to the now dusted Schultz. He is the newly elected Invictus Primogen. The Nosferatu is tall and gaunt with skin so pale it has a nearly sickly blue pallor. His face is skeletal with small yellow eyes sunken deep within dark sockets, and the cartilage of his ears appears burned or melted, fused to his skull.

#Herald and Master of Elysium: Lady Stardust. An unaligned Daeva who serves as both the Master of Elysium, maintaining the three Elysium sights in San Francisco and organizing the monthly Grand Gathering, and responsible for serving as the voice of the Prince as the Herald. Lady Stardust is androgynous and aloof and totally irresistible. Equally comfortable in the dingiest of dive bars and the finest of galas, Lady Stardust becomes the focus of any party or gathering she attends. Lady Stardust has dark hair cut in an 80s fab mullet, and a sexless body that leaves most wondering as to his gender.

#Sheriff: (previously Schultz) Nova: A high ranked Carthian who keeps a large Cotiere of Kindred and Ghouls out in the Dog Patch. She is known for her hot headed behavior and general rabble rousing. Though she has managed to anger many Elder Kindred within San Francisco, she has proven too wily and too well armed to take down, and so she has eked out a territory within the city that most respectable Kindred will leave alone.



The Traditions in San Francisco:
1. The Masquerade: Intentional breaking of the Masquerade is worthy of a bloodhunt. Failure to uphold the Masquerade places the offender at the mercy of the Sheriff.
2. Progeny: The right to Sire can only be performed once every two decades and is not permissible till a Kindred has been undead for over ten years. Transgressions performed by a Progeny during their first five years of unlife are shared with the Sire.
3. Death: Kindred can only be slain only if a blood hunt is called. The right to call a blood hunt can be decided by either the Prince or a unanimous decision of the Primogen. This right can be provided postmouthly under trial. Breaking this tradition will result in the offender being staked and left in the sun.
4. Domain: Territories are divided amongst the Primogen. It is the right and responsibility of the Primogen to divide their territories into domains. The territories of Golden Gate Park, the Water Front, and The Pan Handle will always be unaligned, and hunting in these locations are free to all. A Kindred has full authority and right to hunt in his Domain. However, inability to maintain one's domain does allow for removal of authority by the Prince or appropriate Prisci.
5. Deference: All new Kindred entering the city must be brought forth to hear the Traditions and swear to respect them within the city. Newly sired Kindred must be brought forth within the first week of their Embrace. All Kindred who fail to show Deference will incur the wrath of a Bloodhunt.

#The Pulse: The Pulse is a cross platform instant messaging system, similar to Whatsapp or WeChat unique to Kindred society in America. The App was created by a Covenant of Unaligned Kindred in Palo Alto, and access is only granted to Kindred through a city's Harpy. The App has end to end encryption and does not store messages longer than 30 seconds after they are opened so that there is no server that can be hacked. Individualized and group messages can be shared between Kindred across the Country. Each city's Harpy also uses The Pulse as a means of spreading mass communication.


Essentially, as money can increase or depreciate in value over time and vampires are immortal, it is not a great bartering tool, nor is blood which can be hard to store, preserve and transfer, and a small contamination can ruin a lot of blood.

Instead, among other things, Vampires trade in boons; a currency of favors. Each boon is traded for a favor of similar value, with the two parties agreeing on the magnitude of the boon. Boons can be registered through The Pulse, with the Seneschal. This way, if there is disagreement over a Boon, there is proof of the original agreement, and the Seneschal or Prince can be called on to settle the dispute. Unless otherwise specified, there is no time limit for when the boon can be requested, though the immediacy of pay back depends on the severity and nature of the boon. Both parties can agree on the nature of the boon, or even on the specific task when the boon is initally offered. The magnitude of the boon can be simplified as such:

#Simple: A simple boon is a small favor that can be performed without inconvenience to the indebted vampire. Examples would be: obtaining a pistol, providing an introduction with a higher ranked Kindred, or not attending Court on the day of a vote.

#Minor: A minor boon is a favor that can be performed with minor convenience. Examples may include: letting a Kindred stay at your Haven for a week, gathering extensive research on a subject, providing a piece of secret information, training someone in a common discipline.

#Major: A major boon is a favor provided when you owe someone greatly. Perhaps they saved your unlife, but a major boon is of significant inconvenience to pay back. Paying back a major boon may require one to bend a Tradition or push political boundries. Examples may include: Teaching a Kindred a proscribed Discipline (like a Coil or Theban Sorcery), vote a specific way in court they otherwise would not, staking and delivering a Kindred, cleaning of a breach of the Masquerade for another Kindred.


Please note that many of these places are based off of real locations. Though I am taking creative license, please feel free to look any of them up if it contributes to your understanding of the city.

#The Sea Cliff Haven: An abandoned two story Victorian house in the Sea Cliff area of San Francisco. The building was previously used as a bespoke dress shop, but appears to have been abandoned for many years. The building sits atop one of the raised hills allowing the Cotiere a view both of the Seacliff neighborhood and the bay, but also into the neighboring valley of The Richmond. The building will need serious work to be considered a Safe Place or a true Haven.

#Elysium: Tommy's Joynt. A Divey all night diner that has survived through nearly 70 years unchanged in the city of San Francisco. The outside is garishly painted, the interior ridiculously decorated, and it is known for serving cheap slop like food to a garish assortment of riff raff and beat cops. On any given night a fight is just as likely to break out at Tommy's as a spontaneous all in drinking song. The Kindred have claimed a hidden third floor as a smaller more private Elysium, where meetings can be safely held. Tommy's is less of a place to be seen or meet new Kindred, and more of a place to hold business, make deals and advance one's politics.

#Elysium: The San Francisco Opera House. Though Kine performances are regularly held at the Opera house, Wednesday nights are reserved for "Private Gatherings" of the All Night Society. Every Wednesday night, Lady Stardust holds a large banquet like party where Kindred can come to socialize. Kindred are encouraged to come in their finest, and unlike Tommy's, The Opera House serves as a place to see and be seen. Once a month, on the first Wednesday of the month, The Theater of The Wolf puts on a dance, or play or performance designed specifically to entertain The Kindred. These gatherings are especially well attended by the Elder Kindred, and are not to be missed.

#Elysium: The Lost Church: On the last Sunday night of the month, Lady Stardust holds the Grand Gathering at the Lost Church. The Prince holds court for the first portion of the gathering, making speeches to the Kindred, and hearing grievances. After this, the grandest of banquets are held. Homeless are often hung up by their feet, to serve as fountains to provide sustenance, and all Kindred in San Francisco are expected to attend. The Lost Church is a performance hall built in the 70s. The theater is used by The Prince to hold court, and an upstairs room is used to hold the banquet.

#The Wyrm’s Nest on Octavia: A decrepit mansion sized Painted Lady style building that acts as the main chapter house for The Ordo Dracul. It is located in the Western Addition, just outside of Japan Town, in the heart of Dragon Territory.

#Temple Dragon: A Kindred owned bar in China Town that serves a safe feeding ground for members of the Ordo Dracul. The bartender and manager is an overweight Vietnamese Ghoul called Newt.

#The Night Owl: A cocktail bar and lounge owned by Nicholas D’Agostion.

#The Dogpatch Carthian Compound: Located not too far from the Bay Bridge, a group of Carthians led by Nova have taken over a 4 floor brick complex. The brick building is surrounded by an unkempt grassy lot that has been fortified with a barbwire fence, and is guarded by a number of Ghouls and Kindred.

# The San Francisco Psychiatric Asylum: A stand-alone psychiatric long term and acute care facility that was recently purchased by the UCSF hospital system. Anna has taken an interest in taking over the property and turning it into a sort of blood bank for the Kindred society. The facility is located a the Cliff's Edge in Hunter's Point, in the South East corner of the city. The Asylum is a walled in institutional property with a high central tower providing a panopticon view of a manicured garden enclosed within the rectangular four wings of the medical facility. The the front entrance attempts to appear welcoming, the majority of the facility is gated by four towering concrete walls topped with barbed wire. It has an emergency bay, as well as two wings of long term housing for residents who were receiving inpatient rehabilitation or were unable to return to the community due to their illness.

# The Kink: An S&M and Bondage nightclub in The Castro, San Francisco's famous LGBTQ heart. Though most levels of this three storied club are used to explore various nightly curiosities, the bottom basement level is used as a regular meeting place for The Circle of Crone to conduct their Sabbath rituals.

[Bennosuke]

Cotiere Aspirations are:

1. Successfully perform your duties as Hounds
2. Discover Estella's murderer
3. Deal with the new Sheriff, Nova, and her antagonistic relationship with the Coterie.

* Safe Haven OOOO purchased by Erulasto, Daishain and Anna.
* Retainer- O Gabrielle is a Ghouls who can act as a retainer for the Coterie.
* Retainer- O Bernardo is a Ghouls who can act as a retainer for the Coterie.
* Allies- 0 SF police.
*Status (SF Kindred) OO




Vitae: 9/10
Humanity: 5
Willpower: 4/6
Health: [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
Beats/Exp: 3/2
Purchased obfuscate 1, safe haven 1. politics 1, Resources 1. Coil of the Wyrm 1, Obfuscate 2, Presence up, Touchstone Merit, Obfuscate 3. Allies 4 dots.
Boons: Major boon from Ordo. Major Boon from D'Agostino. Owes minor boon to victor.

Tilts/Conditions:



Aspirations:
1. Create an ecosystem to provide risk free blood for kindred in San Francisco
2. End organized crime in the city.
2a. Eliminate Kindred reliance on organized crime in the city
2a(i). Discover the various Kindred needs which are filled by organized crime in the city and devise alternative methods by which they can be met.
2a(ii). Identify Kindred who need to be swayed in order to implement said alternative methods, and sway them
2b. Identify members of organized crime in the city
2c. Identify allies (among both Kine and Kindred) who share the same goal, like a judge, a police captain or chief, and a district attorney.
3. Protect Katie



Humanity: 4
Willpower: 2/5
Health: [] [] [] [] [] [] []
Beats/Exp: 4/5
Vitae: 6/10
Tilts/Conditions: Tempted (pg 307) x2
Boons: Major Boon from D'Agostino.

Aspirations:
1. Secure a position in the Prince's cabinet
2. Fulfill Invictus' request by obtaining leverage on MS-13
3. Ensure Fred's safety
3a. Inform Fred of the dangers he's unaware of and prepare him for that reality
3b. establish a positive relationship with Fred.


Character Sheet (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2469850)
Vitae: 10/10
Humanity: 5
Willpower: 3/6
Health: [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
Beats/Exp: 2/2
Exp Spent: 4

Boons:
Tilts/Conditions:
-Informed (Faerie)


Aspirations:
#Get a better Haven. (It would be nice to have a nicer and more secure Haven. The bookshop is secure as far as Rachel knows. No one should know where it is, although she can’t completely discount the idea that someone knows where she sleeps.)
#Find out more about the supernatural enigma in the woods
#Reach a state where other Kindred might be less of a potential threat to her. Whether that’s achieved by wealth, Cruac or political power amongst the Kindred doesn’t matter to her.





This is a quick Spoiler that can be posted intermittently in IC posts, and should be updated in real time. This is an easy way to keep track of WP expenditure, gained beats, ect. I will be keeping track of things as well, but this will make my life A LOT EASIER.

Kindred Gabe (http://sheetgen.dalines.net/sheet/55416?message=true)



Character Sheet: https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1510834


Humanity: 5
Vitae: 4/10
Willpower: 6/6
Health 7
Beats/EXP: /0
Tilts/Conditions:


1. Find a way of securing the loyalty of the Ghouls in her service so they can't betray her.
2. Have a real haven to call her own, and a really big bed.
3. Find out why her Sire put her into Torpor, and why Blackstar has taken such an interest in her and her Sire.
3b Study the diary of Gazren to learn its secrets.



I've updated the aspirations to be more in line with the last bit we had discussed about her Sire.

Here are the details as I see them...


1. Lady Blackstar was responsible for bringing Aisling to SF in torpor for secretive reasons pertaining to Aisling and her Sire, Gazren.
2a. Aisling is still under the sway of Blackstar as she hasn't figured out she is being deceived and misled.
2b. Aisling has escaped and is on the run from the Circle of the Crone due to a falling out and the assistance of a Circle neonate/ghoul.
3. She has only been out of torpor for between 6 months to a year. Early enough to still have trouble with the modern world, but long enough to have learned rudimentary English skills.
4. Touchstone is something to do with music, either on an iPod or MP3 player, or somesuch. To be determined.
[I] Just thought....the pack if stray dogs she cares for. Could that be a potential Touchstone as well?[/]


Aisling is fast. She is nimble and her movements flow like a hunting cats. The parkour merit is due to high-speed navigation of overgrown forests and wilderness. I'm sure it may have been even higher before, but I opted to only go for a rating 2 as she has to relearn how to move in a city.
She makes a good courier if needed.
Aisling has a tendency to travel esoteric routes, such as through alleys, over fences, across the roof, etc.


Description: long night-black hair; once meticulously kept and braided, now wild and disheveled with twigs and leaves and other detritus threaded through. Very pale skin, soft despite years of hard living in the woods. Bright, glacial blue eyes surrounded by shadowed and bruised sockets. Slight and slender frame, with the physical age of a fiftteen year old, slightly undernourished girl.
Personality:
Mask: Child
Dirge: Follower
Torn between the safe loneliness of the natural world and the chaotic tides of humanity in this strange new world. Craves a place to belong. Uneasy in New situations but always looking for a friend. Likes to give strange, esoteric gifts she steals to her 'friends'. She likes taking care of stray animals.

[Bennosuke]

NPC List

*Nancy Summers: A frumpy middle aged Mother who has come to Karl with concerns that her son Graham is getting into trouble. She is fairly pathetic in Karl's eyes.

*Graham Summers: Son of Nancy Summers. Through Karl's research, it has been found that Graham has been attending late night Preaching sessions held by the Lancea Sanctum, although why he attends or why the sermons are being given has yet to be determined.

*Katie Wu: Anna's 18 year old cousin who is attending college at UCB. On the outside she appears to be the perfect student, but like most kids her age, she enjoys partying and late nights. She is studying pharmacy and is a typical Californian teenager. Despite her optimism, she is challenged by her waxing-waning relationship with Anna, and her mother's diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma.

*Henry Wu: Anna's 47 years old uncle, a senior engineer at an AI technology firm in Silicon Valley. Henry is a consummate family man, he works hard to provide the best life for his wife and child. He is gutted at the return of cancer in his wife, but he needs to maintain his job so insurance will cover treatment. This is creating a strain with his daughter.

*Fredrick Rugg: Karl’s grandson and only known living relative. Fredrick is a sociology professor at UCLA, and to Karl’s chargrine a homosexual. He is tall with erect posture and brown hair that is starting to go grey. He is now living with the coterie and Anna has begun roping him into daytime tasks to help set up the blood drive and storage at the psychiatric hospital.

*Erik "Spooky" Lopez: Spooky is a mid to top level member of the Mexican cartel MS13. He owns a dive bar known caled Los Luchadores. Along with being involved in the major industries of MS13 (trafficking cocaine and heroine, weapons and child prostitutes), Spooky appears to be involved in laundering large sums of money for the gang. On the side, Spooky may be selling designer amphetamines to the wealthy Techies in San Francisco

*Max Goldstead: A celebrated sculpturist in his own field, whose stock soared to unprecedented heights when he began his aptly named 'homage' series. Six installations 'inspired' (Shamelessly ripped off) by Lillith's best pieces but on a far larger scale. Max's last two exhibitions show signs of true genius, he may even surpass Lillith one day. He has an upcoming exhibit in the DoReMi that he will be sharing with Lillith.

*Jay Acevedo: Jay is Katie's boyfriend and is a suspected member of the gang MS-13. He is a hispanic man in his early twenties with a buzzed head and the word “Lucha” tattooed in cursive under his left eye. He has a square face, and a nose and brow that have already developed their share of scar tissue. He is also missing his left upper canine. Jay comes off as very confident to the point of perhaps being aloof and cocky.

*Mort: Mort is a surly middle aged detective who mostly works night shifts and pushes papers. He serves as a contact for Karl within the police department. He always sounds exhausted, and annoyed by Karl's infrequent requests for a favor, but he almost always comes through.

*Lucy Fisher: A graduate student at The University, who Rachel has befriended. She works the night shift on the campus, often times in the library. She is smart but shy, with straight dark brown hair and a pale complexion. She wears glasses that are thick rimmed and just a size too small. Deep down Rachel recognizes who she used to be in Lucy and envisions Lucy as having the life that she could have if she had remained a mortal.

*Rich Tuttle: CEO of the somewhat dubious blood drive organization, Blood for Life.


*Gabrielle: An insecure teenage girl that Estella met and seduced at a club in San Francisco. She is short and slender with dark hair and a penchant for dressing like a punk. Gabrielle has been Ghouled by Estella. She has a first degree blood bond with Estella and a second degree with Aisling. She has a second degree blood bond with Anna.

*Celestine Wu: Anna's 43 year old Aunt. She is an active member in Church, and a survivor of Multiple Myeloma, which has recently returned. She is currently hospitalized at UCSF. Celestine has been Ghouled by Anna, and has a Second Degree blood bond with Anna.

*Joseph: An Asian mortal, and friend of Daniels. Joseph works in the Tech industry and has a habit for indulging too heavily in alcohol and other pleasures. A recent run in with Victor and the players put Joseph's life in danger, though he may not have realized it.

*Bernardo: Bernardo is a Hispanic teenager who was Ghouled before meeting the players. He has lived his entire life in the service of Kindred. He has shown himself to be a caring individual, and is becoming very close with his new ‘master’ Aisling. Bernardo has a third degree blood bond with Aisling. He has a first degree blood bond with Anna

*Gabe: See Daishain's description below.

*Jasmine: The Ghouled granddaughter of Eliza.


Carthians
*Nova: A high ranked Carthian who keeps a large Cotiere of Kindred and Ghouls out in the Dog Patch. She is known for her hot headed behavior and general rabble rousing. Though she has managed to anger many Elder Kindred within San Francisco, she has proven too wily and too well armed to take down, and so she has eked out a territory within the city that most respectable Kindred will leave alone.

*Saul: A nebbish Carthian whom the coterie captured, once they tracked a van used to assault Spear vampires to his haven. They have every reason to believe that he has been working with Nova to sow unrest in the city, possibly with the goal of a Carthian take over.


*Reggie Fort Prince of Oakland: Suspected to be in league with Nova and her band of San Francisco Carthians. He was "spotted" by the Coterie at Saul's haven. He has a youthful still face framed by a nest of tight dark curls going grey, and his dark brown eyes are lighted by a pair of wire rim spectacles. He moves with a methodical, animal grace.


Circle of Crone
*Alejandro Perez: A flamboyant and puckish member of the Circle of the Crone. He is tall and slender, dresses flamboyantly and keeps his greasy hair long and curled. Alejandro has entered into an agreement with Aisling to help her join the Circle of the Crone in exchange for assistance overthrowing Mother Blackstar.

*Indra: A dark haired malevolent member of the Circle of the Crone. Indra is fiercely loyal to Mother Blackstar and seems to have it out for Aisling and her Cotiere, even having gone so far as to organize an attack on Aisling in the streets of San Francisco.

Invictus
*Shultz: The Sheriff of San Francisco. Schultz is known as a hard nosed, no-nonsense enforcer of The Prince's edicts. Shultz is known for his large pack of Ghouls and many deputed Hounds, who help him run a secret police like organization of investigators and knee breakers. Those who oppose Prince Gorman's rule refer to Schultz as The Blood Fink, before looking over their shoulder afraid he may be waiting right there to stake and bake them. He has greasy curly hair that he cuts to different lengths, and when on the job is known to wear industrial jump suits which he can get dirty and dispose of.
*Ivanov: A mid-level Invictus who acts as an errand boy for Dennis Collings. Ivanov has a bony face, with short sandy hair and beady eyes. He is known for being fickle and shrewd.

*Nicholas D’Agostino: The youthful and elegant Primogen of San Francisco’s Invictus. Nicholas is well known to be the political rival to Prince Gorman and the two are currently fighting a Cold War of sorts. Nicholas is always well dressed, and exemplifies in many ways the modern gentleman. Embraced in his late 20s, Nicholas D’Agostino has dark brown hair which he keeps well maintained, and favors well tailored Italian suits.

*Anthony ‘Tony’ D’Agostino: Tony is the Childe of the Invictus Primogen. Still a fledgeling under Nicholas’ protection, Tony is slowly being brought into “the family business”. Tony has a dark tan, and sandy hair with frosted tips. Tony is still learning to dress like his Sire, and will often favor more casual clothing.

*Carlisle: A mid-level Nosferatu Invictus. He is tall and stalky, with a face somewhere between burned flank steak and melted pudding. Carlisle is not the most socially skilled Invictus, meaning he can be rather off putting, even with Kindred.

*Frank Beato: Nicholas D'Agostino's right hand. A dark skinned refrigerator of a man with a severe raisin face and fists like boulders. Though Frank seldom speaks, it is well understood that the Nosferatu is not to be trifled with. (Deceased)

*Eliza: The Ventrue Invictus member is a melodramatic art collector and critic in San Francisco. She has a mansion in Pacific Heights and has Ghouled many of the members of her family into servitude. She keeps a small Herd of Dominated mortals to feed on. She acts as a maternal protective figure for Lillith. She generally wears outrageous high fashion outfits when in public, has long curled red hair and piercing blue eyes.

*Zach Thomas: A sniveling brat of a neonate who was likely a trust fund baby from Palo Alto, and who remained an infantile sycophant in un-life. He had practically licked the now ex-Prince's boot heels upon joining The Conspiracy, and once or twice had tried stepping over Lillith in the process. The coterie has kicked his door down and assaulted him in his haven, even going so far as to remove one of his hands.

*Ozzy Mandius: Ozzy is an elder Nosferatu within The Invictus. Mandius had been a strong supporter of Prince Gorman, and some had rumored was a direct ally to the now dusted Schultz. He is the newly elected Invictus Primogen. The Nosferatu is tall and gaunt with skin so pale it has a nearly sickly blue pallor. His face is skeletal with small yellow eyes sunken deep within dark sockets, and the cartilage of his ears appears burned or melted, fused to his skull.

*David Solomon: David Solomon is a relatively young vampire and member of the First Estate. He was some sort of banker, and helps keep track of favors, debts, and Oaths within the Invictus. There is something about Solomon that one might describe as slimy, like he has taken on the worst qualities of a stereotypical American politician.

*Murat: The sire of Zach Thomas. He seems to have it out for the coterie.

Lancea Sanctum
*Antoine: One of the keepers of a small church out in the Mission. Antoine is dark of skin and somber of demeanor.

Ordo Dracul
*Julian: A member of the Ordo Dracul who has come to the player characters with a proposed opportunity to investigate the recent disappearances of Neonate vampires in San Francisco. Though not known to all players, he is The Sworn of the Axe to the San Francisco Ordo, and is feared by those who recognize him for his devastating combat prowes. He is generally an individual of few words and even many in The Ordo know little else about him.

*Mobius: AKA Kyle Marks. A missing Neonate Mekhet of the Ordo Dracul. Mobius dresses like a Poser Goth, and before his disappearance was seen spending time with the Carthians. The players have been summoned to investigate Mobius' sudden and recent disappearance.

*Victor: A power hungry Ventrue of the Ordo Dracul. Victor can be brash, crass and violent. Victor dresses in very modern men's formal wear, usually heavily cologned. Victor and the players had a recent spat, and he may be looking for revenge.

*Miho: An Elder Mekhet in the Ordo Dracul, and Mobius' Sire. Miho is friends with Kenji Tanaka. She is known for her wisdom as well as her cold aloofness and penchant for fits of depression. All members of The Ordo know to avoid Miho during her more wrathful moments. Miho is a Sworn of the Dying Light, and her acumen in the secrets of the Ordo is believed to be near second to none on the West Coast. Miho is also known for her vanity.


Unaligned
*Screech: A foul smelling, pumpkin faced Nosferatu who runs a number of Pier's off of San Francisco' Embarcadero, which allows him to control import and export through the city. Like many of his Clan, he has the ability to annoy or put-off those around him despite his best interests, though he has gathered a reputation for being at times self serving and greedy.

*Hector and Gunner: Members of the Hell's Furies, a Bruja biker gang that runs the California Coast, and the Daly City pool hall known as The Devil's Hole.

[Bennosuke]

Proposed Homebrew Rules


*Blood bonds cannot be developed between vampires of the same lineage
*A beat is gained when there is damage in the third to farthest box (first negative modifier) rather than at the farthest box.
*To make conditions more meaningful and to improve the rate of xp gained, I will give one beat for appropriately role playing the condition and a second for the mechanical resolution of the beat.
*Stake Armor is Rating 4/2, Strength 2, Defense 0, Speed 0, Availability 4, Coverage Torso. Special: Staking attacks take an additional -2 to the roll for a total of -5.
*A single WP is simply gained by choosing to interact with your Touchstone. This could be anything from stalking them, to spending money on them. This stacks with the defending the Touchstone mechanic. It will be up to me as the ST to make the interaction meaningful and help drive the story forward. AND if we skip ahead by a few days of in game time, it is assumed that all WP is recovered.

The below are taken from the CofD 2E book only.

#Aiming: Spend a turn aiming for +1 to ranged attack. Can stack for a total of +3
#All out Attack: 2+ to a brawl or weaponry attack, lose defense.
#Charge: Move at double character’s speed and end with a brawl or weaponry attack. Lose defense.
#Off hand attack: -2 to roll.


*Replacement Rules for Discipline: Animalislm
o Feral Whisper: Unchanged from current rules
oo Beckoning: The vampire calls forth an army of nearby animals of a specific species, to do a single task.Cost: 1 willpower, Roll Presence+Animal Ken+ Animalism, Action: 1 turn, Duration: 1 scene. Success: all animals that match the request within (#Success x 100 yards) come and perform the task. Dramatic Failure: all animals that match the request within yards come and attack the summoner.
ooo Beastial Frenzy: When riding the wave, the performer may attempt to push all animals nearby into a similar state of mind, driving them to help accomplish his goals. Cost: 1 vitae, Roll: Presence+Animalism, Action: Instant, Duration: Length of Frenzy. Dramatic Failure: Animals within 100 yards swarm and attack the summoner. Failure: Animals within 100 yards flee (this can be viewed as breaching the masquerade). Success: All animals within 100 yards follow the same instructions/goals as the summoner, and gain the same benefits as the frenzying vampire
oooo Subsume the Beast: The vampire chooses an animal that he locks eyes with, and then takes over its body. During this time the summoner's body enters a torpor like state. Cost: 1 willpower, Roll: Presence+ Animalism vs. Composure + Resolve, Action: instant, Duration: up to 1 hour for every success. Dramatic Failure: The summoner must roll to avoid frenzy with a -2 modifier. Success: The vampire occupies the animal's body successfully without access to disciplines. Exceptinoal Success: The vampire also gains access to disciplines.
ooooo Shepard to the Flock: The vampire summons a specific species of animal, which follow his every command as if an extension of his will. While similar to beckoning, the animals are able to follow complex commands, adjust to new commands, and behave in ways that would be unnatural or self injurious. Cost: 1 vitae and one Willpower, Roll: Presence + Animal Ken + Animalism, Action: 1 turn, Duration 1 scene. Dramatic fialure: The summoner frenzies and all animals within 100 yards flee. Success: all animals that match the request within (#Success x 100 yards) arrive and follow commands directly from the player, Exceptional Success: Duration is extended to an entire night.


*Kindred Dualing Merit- Prerequisite (Brawling oo , Weaponry ooo)
o Vital Defense: At it's most basic level a vampire learns to protect their two most vital weaknesses, their head and their heart. The vampire with this skill gains an extra point of defense to any called shots against their head or heart. The vampire must be aware of the attack such that they would have their regular defense bonus.
oo Cleaving blows: Against vampires who lack most vital organs, large rending blows become important. Vampires with this skill cause lethal damage with all bladed weapons
ooo Biting Clinch: A vampire's fangs can be one of their most lethal weapons (deals aggrevated damage), and thus most lethal vampires become skilled at bringing this weapon into play. A vampire may use the damage skill to bite with a successful clinch initiation, even without an exceptional success.
oooo Staker: When using the stake to attack the heart, the vampire only suffers a -1 to their roll.
ooooo Preternatural Warrior: A vampire with this level of skill has no wasted movement or overreaction exhibited by humans. The vampire can attack twice in one turn if they do not move at all during this turn.

Domain: Domain merits describe how well maintained, bountiful and safe a cotiere’s fiefdom is. Merit dots purchased by any one individual player are shared by the cotiere.

-Lien: This trait describes how well integrated the cotiere is into their domain. Each dot in this merit adds a +1 modifier to find out information salient to the domain and the people within it. This could be anything from investigating a missing person, to getting “the word on the street”. Lien never modifies a hunting roll.



*As there are no real Game Sessions, IC gameplay will be broken into "Chapters" and "Scenes". A game session is equivalent to a "Scene", which will be composed of a number of movements of the story.
*Beats will be allotted throughout each Scene, but also at the end of a Scene, like at the end of a Game Session.
*XP can only be spent at the end of a Game Session.
*Extra beats will be given out at the end of a Chapter as appropriate
*Merits and equipment will be gained as appropriate without the expenditure of XP based on roleplaying. For example, if your character robs a bank, he will gain Resources without spending XP.
*Beats will be given out both for completing and for taking sufficient steps towards completing an aspiration
*Please stick up for when you feel a character has a fulfilled an aspiration, I am only human and cannot remember every character's three aspirations at all times.

[Thundercracker]

Posting here to reserve for char info.

https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1288452

Fluff:

@Thunder: As stated before, it looks like you may have been using first edition rules. As far as the character concept goes, it’s not a bad idea. I don’t think ethnicity matters too much to the Vampire community, so if you know more about one of the two cultures, I’d prefer you lean that way. There are a lot of ideas you could flesh out with the concept; Touchstone is an old instructor, or maybe a specific gym/dojo/dojang/school. How would a Vampire handle empty hand fighting with mortals when bashing damage means so little to them, getting knocked out isn’t possible, and physical augmentation is so easy. Does the act of fighting make the character feel more human or less, and does this change their relationship with the martial art? From a stats standpoint, other than touching on what has already been mentioned; it appears your character has more stats in weaponry than brawl, which would mean the character has done some sort of weapons based martial art in my mind (fencing, Kendo, Kenjutsu, HEMA)… this is something that definitely would need to be fleshed out. The one dot in most of mental skills would need some explaining; why is he/she have experience in politics, science, occult and medicine? Obviously you have not finished the character (no merits… 10xp not spent), but the lack of social skills will make the character less useful in many scenes. I don’t think he/she is too combat oriented, you just have to recognize that many situations will be resolved with words, and your character will be less capable and have less defense against social maneuvers.

I will create a new character sheet for 2e, though I will still need help/advice, I'm sure.


#Ordo Dracule Primogen: Yoshihiro Yamamoto. A Burakumin who has gathered a cabal of Vampires of primarily Asian descent. Yamamoto avoids city politics, and to a small extent the Ordo members are greatly ostracized from City Politics. Many Kindred are afraid of an inevitable revolt, and there are rumors of the Dracule capturing young Kindred to fuel their arcane experiments.

If my character is going to be part of this, it makes sense to be Asian.

# Who was your character before they were Embraced? Did they have a family, and what happened to their mortal relationships after the Embrace?
Anna grew up an only child of an upper middle class family in Hong Kong, was a competitor in the world junior international wushu competition, but has studied several schools of martial arts. Her father and mother were murdered, victims of organized crime violence. She changed her major and became a police officer, looking to help eliminate organized crime from the city. As a detective, she moonlighted trying to track down those responsible for her parents' murder, in addition to her day job. As she got closer to discovering their identities, strange and creepy things started happening. She swore she was followed home from work, but the individual just walked on by when she reached her front stoop. A neighbor's cat was found strangled and hanging from her apartment block’s stairwell railing. She swore she saw shadows moving on their own out of the corner of her eye, but when she looked at them directly, everything appeared normal.
Eventually Anna, as part of the investigation into her parents' murder, discovered the prime suspects in her parents' murder killed horribly in a warehouse, ribs turned inside out (among other things), and it was quite obvious nothing human could have done what she saw.
She fled and returned with backup, but when the police returned, the warehouse was cleaned up with no trace of what she'd seen.

In addition to being reprimanded at work, the Triads concluded she was somehow responsible or at least related for the disappearance of their members. They threatened to ruin (or potentially hurt or kill) her fiancée (Daniel) unless she agreed to help them from inside the police force. In order to protect him, and more than freaked out by the strange and unexplainable things she has witnessed, she broke off the engagement (which nearly destroyed her) and fled to San Francisco, to pursue a masters degree.

Anna reconnected with her father's brother and his wife, who left Hong Kong in 1997 just prior to the handover. After realizing she could never work for the police in the US, she ended up teaching classes at several martial arts studios and police academies in San Francisco. That, combined with the inheritance and insurance from her parents, ensured her financial well being.

In the course of her studies, she delved into unexplainable phenomena, and caught the attention of the city's Kindred in her investigations, specifically a member of the order of dracul (Kenji Tanaka).


# What was the Embrace like? Were they forced into it? Why did they accept if they had the option? What was their initial reaction to being Embraced?

Over the course of several weeks, Anna met several times with the mysterious individual from Japan. Often some of the words he used seemed out of place, and though he was interested in her work and research, she always sensed that there was some kind of ulterior motive. Finally, he offered to assist her expand her knowledge, revealing his true nature to her. Anna, after her initial shock, thought only of the secrets which were there to uncover, and weighed them against the love she still held for her former fiancée, understanding that if she took the plunge, she could never be with him. With the engagement broken, and supposedly Daniel moving on, however, it seemed a relatively small price to pay. Tragically, it was only the following week that she ran into her former fiancée. He had moved to San Francisco to try and win her back.


# What was their fledgling initiation/training like? Who was their Sire and how did their relationship with their Sire grow/change/develop over this time? Did your character enjoy their new powers? How did they cope with the less savory aspects of being Undead? Why did your character join the Covenant they did, and what was initiation in this Covenant like.
0. The Embrace: Anna’s mind reeled with the possibilities. Kenji had just revealed to her that he was not entirely human. Of course she’d refused to believe at first, until he showed her. Vampires were real, they were researchers like her, but they were sworn to secrecy. Kenji Tanaka was born before her grandfather and remembered World War II, despite looking no older than 40.
“If I refuse, then what?” she asked.
“No one can ever know what I have told you, and we will never meet again,” he replied.
“Would he kill me? I don’t think he would, but then again, who knows what he’s capable of… but this could be my one chance to discover all there is to know… but I would be giving up my family, my life, I could never see the sun again… but how many lives could I save from the things which exist but nobody really knows about, not just vampires, but the other things that are out there? I’m not doing anyone much good right now, honestly who would even miss me?
“I’ll do it,” she said, before she changed her mind.
He was on her in a flash, his heavier weight pushing her back onto the couch as she felt her chin lifted up slightly, exposing her neck. His fingers were cold, like ice. Before she even fully comprehended what was going on, Anna felt an intrusion in the soft flesh of her neck, and black spots appeared before her eyes as her blood pressure dropped. Anna gripped the back of Kenji’s head as a sense of calm and peacefulness came over her. She stared up at the ceiling, feeling more and more lightheaded as the seconds slipped by. Kenji paused, letting out a satisfied sigh, but that brief interruption was long enough for a niggling voice in the back of Anna’s head to gain a bit of traction.
“Could almost be a Coke commercial,” she thought dully.
“Wait, it’s too much,,” the voice said, as Kenji leaned over again.
Her vision began to blacken, and her limbs felt heavy.
“I’m going to die, I don’t want to die,” the voice said, quietly at first, but then stronger and stronger, until she was overcome by the will to live.
Instinct kicked in, and she tried to fight, but there was no strength left in her body. A half clenched fist barely even made a sound as it impacted his ribs, and her left hand now fumbled with his hair, trying to pull him away, but he was so strong, and cold, like iron or steel. She was completely blind now, but she could still hear the sound of sucking and swallowing, and her own panicked breaths as she fought on, however feebly. Soon though, even those sounds grew faint and far away, and she dropped fully into unknown darkness.
She didn’t know what it was, but it was hot, and delicious, and she sucked it down as someone dying of thirst would a clear mountain spring. Her eyes snapped open and she gasped a lungful of air and held it before shuddering an exhale. She was on the carpet now, sitting up, and holding Kenji’s forearm in both hands. With a start she realized she’d been drinking from his slashed wrist, and she warred with herself between pushing it away in revulsion and drinking more. Quickly her thirst made itself known and she yanked his arm to her face again, greedily sucking down more of the viscous fluid and shoving aside thoughts of disease and the fact she was drinking _blood_.
Suddenly, Anna was overcome by a stabbing pain in her gut, which quickly spread to her entire body.
“What’s happening?” she asked, shocked at the hoarseness of her own voice.
“Your body is dying, it will all be over soon,” Kenji said, rolling down his sleeve.
Anna shuddered and convulsed in agony, for what seemed like an eternity, but what was in reality probably less than an hour before she finally lay still. Too still, she realized, she no longer had a heartbeat or needed to breathe. She sat up and noticed Kenji watching her from a chair across the room.
“I’m thirs-“ she said, stopping short when he held up a glass with more of the viscous red fluid in it. Shakily, she stood up and crossed the room on legs which didn’t seem to work quite right and accepted the glass without a word, drinking it down. It seemed to slake her need somewhat, but not as well as Kenji’s blood had. The remainder of the night was a blur of drinking more, and the start of her education at Kenji’s instruction.
1. If there's a Hell, I'm in it. I'd never felt the kind of Thirst that came from the need for human blood. The promise of knowledge and secrets seems so empty and he should have _told_ me it would be like this! That and suddenly Daniel is back in my life, and I have to lie to him and tell him I don't care when I really feel like my heart is about to wrench itself right out of my chest. If this is what eternity will feel like, I'm not sure I want any part of it…
2. Kenji has been patient with me, and I've settled somewhat. My aunt, uncle, and cousin seem to have accepted that I'm busy most days, and can only meet at night. The situation with Daniel is more difficult. Kenji has recommended I cut off all ties, that I will only hurt more in the end, and in my mind, I know he's right, but the heart is another matter... I.. I killed someone this week by accident, and talking to Daniel, I can sometimes almost forget what I am, almost...
3. My aunt and uncle are headed to my cousin's graduation next month from private school. Family, children, it was something I knew I would give up, but I find this sense of… I want to call it longing, but really it feels more like jealousy. I should be happy for them, and I am, I swear... I just hope I don't meet Katie at a club now that she's 18, that would be awkward.
4. I don’t want to stop seeing Daniel, but I’m afraid, afraid he’ll find out what I really am: a monster. I'm still meeting him on a semi-regular basis... but yesterday, I found a grey hair on his head. At some point he's going to start asking questions about my appearance, why it isn't changing.. I can only laugh them off for so long. I'll have no choice but to cut off all contact with him then. Oh please, let it be at least a few more years...
5. Kenji has promised my formal initiation will happen within the month, so long as there are no more lapses in judgement. He says I will still be able to call on him for advice and help if needed, but I’m going to try not to. I already owe him so much…

# Describe your character’s personality and appearance. Please tie this in with their Mask and Dirge.
Anna Wu is Chinese descent, with cream colored skin and straight shoulder length dark hair, standing about 5’5 and about 120 lbs. She is fit, having kept herself in shape after leaving the police force. She has a great dislike of organized crime organizations, and respect for the police and others in public service. At this point she is trying to keep her head down in Kindred politics, and thus acts on the orders of others more than not. Deep down, she’s hungry to learn, feeling she can better protect others if she has fore-knowledge of things that go bump in the night.
Aspirations (request help on these):
See below character box
# Describe the character’s Touchstone. Make it clear why this person/place/object has such a high importance to the character.
Daniel Zhu is a lead engineer for a tech firm in Silicon Valley. He and Anna were engaged to be married, but she broke it off to protect him from the Triads in Hong Kong, despite believing him to be the love of her life. Due to a misunderstanding, she had thought he had moved past her when she decided to accept the Embrace, only to find out a short time later he was still in love with her when he showed up in San Francisco. Every time she meets him it is a reminder of what might/could/should have been, but it’s also bittersweet, as she’s torn between the feelings she still harbors for him and the desire to slake her Thirst with his blood. She knows someday she’ll be forced to either Embrace him herself, or watch him grow old and die, but she’s putting off the day of reckoning as long as possible.


-Nova missing
-Three bombs exploded in The Mission District (near The Castro where the group was ambushed), suspected set off by Cartheans
-Several "unrelated" apartment fires in the Outer Mission, known Carthean territory... suspected Spear activity
-Fire set to the Truegen in downtown SF, a company reportedly owned by The Prince
-Reported increased gang fighting throughout the city, suspected to be Kindred instigated.
-Derailing of a Caltrain train as it entered the main San Francisco stop, killing about ten people and causing a major fire in several cabins, again likely Kindred instigated

Oct 3:
-Murat was staked and delivered to Tony. Zach had been Rachel's captive and escaped her haven. It looks like he fled the city via airplane. They could consider looking into this further.
-Can Karl leverage the situation in some way to improve his political power and fulfill his aspiration? Perhaps he can push for Nova to be cut, given all the evidence mounting against her and seize the position of Sheriff?
-Anna may want to follow up with the Ordo Dracul as their haven was burned down the night before.
-As always, Anna's family still wants to meet with her. Katie is planning on moving out of Anna's other apartment.
-Anna had Fred write a report on the blood drive company Blood for Life and its CEO Rich Tuttle. She gave him the job of looking into what is needed to set up a blood bank at the hospital, including transport capability. "The idea would be to hold the drive, and store the blood at the hospital until it’s needed, while simultaneously keeping Rich Tuttle from asking why a ton of blood is being shipped to a bar or some other non medical facility." She may want to follow up on this.
-Perhaps the group wants to go after Hutton and see if they can find him, and possibly get him to follow through with the promised meeting with Padre.
-When the group meets back up with Tony, Rachel may want to push to be officially a Hound towards her Aspiration of gathering respect and power.
-The group may want to look into the owner of the Drive by car, Philip Nova.

[Ladorak]

Clan: Nosferatu

Covenant: Invictus

The Sire: Uncle Raffles. An old and twisted creature who chooses their childer for sadistic reasons, relishing inflicting the Clan curse on the vain and the vapid. Uncle came to America from Ireland via Ellis Island at the beginning of the 20th century. He was at the time a precocious young man, entirely uneducated but brilliant and eager to learn. He learnt construction by building skyscrapers and saved enough to go to night school and become an architect. His first few jobs showed an abundance of skill and a Nosferatu who's lair needed substantial reinforcement took an interest in him.
His Sire was one of those vampires whose bite is agony rather than sweet ecstasy, the embrace was neither willing nor expected. This is why Uncle treats his childer the way he does, trying to overcome the trauma by becoming the victimiser instead of the victim.
He didn't stay in New York for long, he travelled around America building underground fortresses for the 'Sewer Rats' that could afford it. As time moved on he become fascinated by the development of technology, constantly incorporating new developments and techniques. During his travels he developed a stage personality, Uncle Raffles, a larger-than-life character that embodied every stereotype about the Nosterafu you can think of. An ironic mask with which he hid disdain, he would only become himself among his fellow Clanmates.
He belongs to the Carthian Movement but any who show disgust at his appearance or manner he treats with the contempt they deserve, and shows them exactly what they expect to see.
Aside from his travels he lived almost always underground, surfacing only to feed or to embrace another victim.

The Childe: In life a gifted and beautiful artist, a incredibly selfish and self-serving person. The very picture of the artistic genius looking down their nose at everyone around them, dismissive of her fans, scornful of her contemporaries and forgetful of her inspirations. A Daeva was considering her as a childe before she was snatched up by Uncle, an added sweetness to his torture. After the embrace: After a period of deep depression, not aided by her Sire's hounding and mocking, she found purpose again by throwing herself into her work. She found the despair and self-loathing added something new to her work, elevating it from mere genius to godly. Despite her appearance she slid almost effortlessly into high society, leaving her Sire still squatting in the sewers far behind her.
She would be undead for around 7-8 years. The first few years she would have been a virtual prisoner of her sire and almost entirely isolated from kindred society. In year three her sire finally tires of her and plans to dispose of her, however she outmanoeuvres him using the few contacts she has made, if he killed her word would reach the Sheriff. He is outraged but defeated. He is also placed into a precarious position, he is still responsible for her for the next two years, any punishment she earnt would be shared by him now her lineage was known. He was also forced to provide her with artistic supplies.
The art would be postmodern and surrealist sculpture, the most common theme is the combination of beauty/innocence and horror/disgust. I plan to give her a point of Vigor basically just because I like the image of her bending sheets of metal into place or carving stone with her hands. Her sire will frequently feature in one form or another, typically representing something monstrous or something horrid and powerless.
In year five he lets her go and she spends 2-3 years climbing the social ladder and honing her craft. She attended Elysian that night thinking it would throw her into the truly big leagues and make her a small fortune. Several undead 'talent scouts' were in attendance, as were several very wealthy collectors, and her entire collection was on display.
Then the fire started...

Appearance: Imagine the most beautiful woman you can, then imagine what it would look like if some burly lumberjack used all his strength to bury his axe between her eyes. That is what Artist looks like. Even more disturbing one of the sides of her face has dropped half an inch, so that her eyes and the two halfs of her nose no longer align

Merits etc:
Touchstone: The inheritor. Max Goldstead. Idea In life Artist was pioneering a new artist style, the idiot critics called it post-post modern antimaterialism. In the wake of her 'death' there were a slew of hacks attempting to continue the movement, all of which annoyed her but none of which made any real traction. That was until Max came along. Max was already a celebrated sculpture in his own field, but he stock soared to unprecedented heights when he began his aptly named 'homage' series. Six installations 'inspired' (Shamelessly ripped off) by Artist's best pieces but on a far larger scale. The idiot critics started calling him her inheritor. All that was bad enough, but recently things have taken a turn for the even worse, Max's last two exhibitions show signs of true genius, he may even surpass her one day...
(This whole idea is shamelessly ripped off from Bloodlines, it's at least three times better than the touchstone I came up with myself)
Retainer: Arthur Pennyworth. Artist's ghoul.
Allies: Eliza Carmine. The Deava who once coveted Artist as her childe. They had been good friends while Artist was alive, although Artist knew nothing of Eliza's true nature. It was Eliza who helped Artist secure herself against destruction by her Sire.
Since then Eliza has acted as an Agent of sorts, securing her work in the undead world in exchange for a cut. In that time the two have become firm friends.
She came to America with her parents when they fled Franco's Spain in the 50s. Her Sire, long gone now, fell for her in the 60s and embraced her at the age of 23. She arrived in San Francisco in the early 90s and has since made it her home. She is of the Cult of the Crone
Aspirations:
1: Humiliate the Prince (I know this is similar to Depose the Prince, but I think it's still quite different, him suffering is more important to her then breaking his power).
2: Show up my Sire.
3: Make a masterpiece commemorating the fire


https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1882323

[Daishain]

For Reference:

Karl (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1284903)
http://apollo-na-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/1426709846210/chow%23264_artina.jpg

Gabriel (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1290773)
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/3c/18/21/3c18212c015f2c596255571445175dbb--cyberpunk-detective-delta-green.jpg

Friedrich had one simple rule in his life as a human, make himself indispensable to those in power. He didn't want great power for himself, no, with that came scrutiny, attention, responsibility. He could wield plenty of influence and reap rewards by standing just behind those considered great names, ensuring that their secrets remained safe while those of their enemies were uncovered and used to good effect. If those names should falter somehow, he could always attach himself to others, who paid attention to one like he? And if a patron became troublesome, well, he always knew where the bodies were buried.

The first great war brought troubling times for Friedrich. His country was unfairly stripped of everything. Supposed punishment for no greater crimes than those committed by those doing the punishing. He found work in Italy for a time, digging up dirt on some of the various political factions there. The Nationalsozialismus party changed everything. For years, he had dismissed them as a group of washed up radicals with pseudo-scientific delusions. Now, they were no less delusional, but they were gaining power, and more importantly, they were getting things done. Germany blossomed under their influence. Its people, lands, and industry reinvigorated. Most importantly from Friedrich's perspective, they rewarded competence and efficiency particularly well.

Seeing an opportunity, Friedrich decided it was time to put his talents to use in a more official capacity. Joining the burgeoning organization, he proved himself quite suited for espionage, first hunting down and exposing opponents of the worker's party, then when their brilliant and charismatic leader officially took power, doing the same with enemies of the state as part of the steadily growing Abwehr. He never bought into this foolish master race concept, his talents were his own, not some mystical bloodline, and he figured it must be the same for everyone else as well. But he just regarded it as yet another amusing quirk of his current patrons.

The segregation didn't bother him, just the opposite. It put idle hands to work and gave him more ways to prove himself, by hunting down those who did not comply. More than one family ended up being hauled away by the Gestapo because he had a hunch. Then the madness came. The same man whose brilliance led his country to greatness was now destroying it from within by overt paranoia and insane decisions. This change was sudden, too sudden. To Friedrich, it was clear, someone had managed to get to the Fuhrer.

It took months of piecing together events, but eventually he found himself standing before a door. His hunt had led him to the office of a mid level bureaucrat. A nobody by all accounts, but many others would say the same of Friedrich. Too many coincidences were tied to this one man. He had enough to accuse the suspected, but surely the trail did not end here. He had gone in at night, hoping to find some physical evidence that would lead him to the ones pulling the strings. Friedrich grew excited when the door carried a hidden alarm, it proved that if nothing else, this man was indeed more than he appeared. Confident nothing living was within the offices, Friedrich bypassed the alarm and entered. The darkness within claimed him, and the door slammed shut.

Drained and weak, Friedrich soon found himself dragged before an elder member of creatures he had always dismissed as fantasy. Peeling away the layers of deception was an impressive act, suggesting he might be a useful pawn, so the spy was presented with a choice. Death, or service in death. Friedrich chose, and died. At first, Friedrich tried to resume his position in life. The difficulties of that aside, the war soon began drawing to a conclusion that had been inevitable the moment the Russians were provoked into it. Afterwards, there was a witch hunt for men like him. It was time for the world to 'know' he was dead. Arranging matters with his new master, Friedrich deliberately induced torpor. He would sleep for twenty years, then awake to a new world.

__________________________________________________ ___________________

Karl has one simple rule in his existence as one of the kindred. Make himself indispensable to Invictus. He didn't want great power for himself, no, with that comes madness, mutation, not to mention the attention of bloodsucking monsters who want one's head. He could wield plenty of influence and reap rewards by standing just behind those with great power, ensuring that their secrets remained safe while those of their enemies were uncovered and used to good effect.

Friedrich currently goes by the name of Karl Bauer. His old identity having long been rendered defunct, It had been simple enough to steal the identification of a dead man of German heritage with no remaining relatives. Ironically, Friedrich discovered Karl had been the son of a family that had fled to the US from men like himself, a coincidence that would have amused him once.

On learning its potential, Karl sought to use the blood to enhance his natural talents. soon finding ways to blend into the shadows far more than could ever be managed naturally. Having directly observed what can happen to vampires who lose touch with the Man, some time ago he determined to keep up a facade that would put him in touch with normal humans on a regular basis. And thus he came up with taking on the mantle of a private detective, making money off of the problems brought to him by the people of San Francisco.

It also served him well in other respects, handling Invictus business from his office was just as simple as the domestic abuse cases and occasional protection work that the humans often brought to him. His clients aren't overtly aware of this of course, but he often takes blood as a part of his payment. To him, it seems a reasonable enough price for putting up with them and their petty complaints.

It has proven useful in other respects as well. If a human experiences something inexplicable, they're more likely to take it to someone like him than the police. Karl has been able to report multiple violations of the masquerade as a result, and act to cover up such events if it suited his purposes.

While laying the groundwork for his business, it became apparent Karl would need a competent and trustworthy partner, not least to handle daytime business. He sought one out, and thus Gabriel came into his nights. When Karl found him, Gabriel had been recently diagnosed with cancer. Without treatment he could not afford, it would inevitably be terminal. Shortly after, he was discharged from his job as a police detective for drinking on duty. Gabriel's life was the verge of a fast spiral down to a nasty death in the gutters when Karl offered him a deal. Vitae could stave off his disease and bring perks that he could only dream of. He could even have a version of his job back, all that was demanded in return was unflinching loyalty, and silence. Since becoming a ghoul, Gabriel has acted as Karl's daytime partner, handling court appearances, initial interviews and other matters that Karl cannot. He is not as skilled in this work as Karl himself, but is competent enough to not need a minder.

[Bennosuke]

Thank you kindly! Happy weekend everyone!

[Thundercracker]

Presence + persuasion: [roll0]

10 again: [roll1]

[Bennosuke]

@TC: Any chance you want to spend a WP for an extra 3d10, or gain a beat for a dramatic failure?

[Thundercracker]

@TC: Any chance you want to spend a WP for an extra 3d10, or gain a beat for a dramatic failure?

I don’t want to spend a willpower.

Actually a dramatic failure might go well with removing Aisling from the day-to-day narrative. Let’s do that.

[Bennosuke]

I'll give the other players a chance to respond/interact/make any further attempts before moving things on this evening. Thank you for the patience with me and making the transition with our newest PC so easy! Looking forward to the craziness that is going to take place in this game!!!

[Bennosuke]

Schultz [roll0] +7 =14
Sheriff's Ghouls [roll1] +4=12
Kindred Militia [roll2] +5= 9

Initiative Order So far:
Schultz 14
Sheriff's Ghouls 12
Anna 10
Kindred Militia 9

[Thundercracker]

Initiative: [roll0]

[Daishain]

Initiative [roll0]

[Bennosuke]

Initiative Order So far:
Karl 14
Schultz 14
Sheriff's Ghouls 12
Anna 10
Kindred Militia 9

So just waiting on Ladorak, but please feel free to describe what you are going to have your character try to accomplish.

[Bennosuke]

Okay then, to keep things moving, I will roll for Lillith. [roll0] +2

EDIT
Final Initiative Order:
Karl 14
Schultz 14
Sheriff's Ghouls 12
Anna 10
Kindred Militia 9
Lillith 8

[Daishain]

Simple dex+firearms roll for now [roll0]

[Bennosuke]

[roll0] in comparison to [roll1] should be fun

EDIT: It really blows my mind how bad my rolls on this forum are.

[Bennosuke]

So in regards to Lillith's roll. Her Dex is 1, her Firearms is -1, then she's using autofire. There are three modes of autofire, but I'm going to assume that by your description and what a gun noob would do, that she's basically holding down the trigger and just spraying, which would be a longburst +3 modifier; for a dice pool of 3d10 and not a chance roll. So Lillith actually gets at least a hit and I'm going to roll the last two dice

[roll0] and why not 10 again? [roll1]

There you have it. Lillith gets two hits.

[Ladorak]

Sorry I've been away from books a lot lately, posting on my phone, thank you for rolling the extra dice for me.

[Bennosuke]

No worries. I make mistakes even when I have the book in front of me. But, since TC already rolled for Anna, it's ur turn again ;)

Final Initiative Order:
Karl 14
Schultz 14
Sheriff's Ghouls 12
Anna 10
Kindred Militia 9
Lillith 8

[Bennosuke]

I take it everyone is a little extra busy today???

[Thundercracker]

I take it everyone is a little extra busy today???

Yup. Will post in about 2 hrs

[Bennosuke]

Hope things are busy in a good way at least! No rush of course

[Thundercracker]

Hope things are busy in a good way at least! No rush of course

I reviewed and I will keep with the original shot. There is just a lot going on and normally I post from the train but someone from work followed me and wanted to chat.

[Bennosuke]

[roll0] in comparison to [roll1]

[Thundercracker]

Using celerity (quicken sight) here will drop damage to zero (by adding defense to reduce the die pool) and it takes one vitae to heal 3 bashing, correct?

[Bennosuke]

Sorry for the delay in response. Having Celerity alone gives you the defense you need to firearms, without having to spend the Vitae, pg 130. It does say you get this benefit as well for Quicken Sight on pg 145, but I would imagine that was an error, since that benefit is "free" for simply having celerity.

Spending a Vitae heals 2 bashing or 1 lethal.

[Thundercracker]

Sorry for the delay in response. Having Celerity alone gives you the defense you need to firearms, without having to spend the Vitae, pg 130. It does say you get this benefit as well for Quicken Sight on pg 145, but I would imagine that was an error, since that benefit is "free" for simply having celerity.

Spending a Vitae heals 2 bashing or 1 lethal.

Anna has quicken sight devotion though, which allows her to add defense to reduce firearms attack pools. Normally you don’t get to apply defense to firearms. Celerity helps per dot but quicken sight adds more if you use it. That’s how I understood it anyway.

[Bennosuke]

You are correct! I was misreading the text, and was having trouble understanding what you and the text were saying. My apologies. So ya, if you spend the blood point, Anna's defense will nullify the attack and she takes no damage. Sorry about that

[Thundercracker]

You are correct! I was misreading the text, and was having trouble understanding what you and the text were saying. My apologies. So ya, if you spend the blood point, Anna's defense will nullify the attack and she takes no damage. Sorry about that
No worries. I’m just glad to finally use this devotion :p
I think we’ll do that because it’s 1 bp to dodge but 2 to heal.

[Bennosuke]

Okay, Anna now has 5 BP, and takes no damage. Her heightened senses perceive the bullet whizzing towards. She watches its micro-shudders on the wind and hears the whistle of it cutting through air, allowing her the time to move just out of the way of the bullet.

[Bennosuke]

[roll0] Well... this could be bad.

EDIT: Amazing how bad my rolls have been.

[Daishain]

I should probably note that I'm waiting on the results of the other PCs and NPCs before making my next move. Karl's not feeling too bold right now.

[Bennosuke]

Working on the OOC post right now. Thank you everyone for the patience. This has just been a rough couple days IRL.


Final Initiative Order:
Karl 14
Schultz 14
Sheriff's Ghouls 12
Anna 10
Kindred Militia 9
Lillith 8

[Bennosuke]

Going to be annoying hear and roll multiple dice here. Jumping [roll0]

melee incase [roll1] and ballistics [roll2]

[Thundercracker]

Anna has an assault rifle if that makes a difference

[Bennosuke]

I'm away from book ATM, so can't compare the assault rifle to the large SMG. If you can look, let me know.

[Daishain]

Wait a minute, shouldn't Schulz be losing his defense every single round in which he reloads that shotgun? I seem to recall the book saying that is the case unless you're using a magazine or a revolver speedloader

[Bennosuke]

He doesn’t get defense against guns as he lacks celerity, so it's not a factor... assuming I understand you correctly. He is spending blood points each turn as part of his Resistance discipline to soak damage.

[Bennosuke]

Anna has an assault rifle if that makes a difference

Having the chance to look it up, the assault rifle does one extra damage, so Anna does 1 bashing damage.

It's back to Karl now.

[Bennosuke]

@Daishain: So, as far as I can tell Karl is only Blood Potency 1, and is therefore only able to spend on vitae in a turn (that's what I see on your character sheet). I've therefore only spent one of Karl's BP, now down to 8/10, and healed accordingly.

Daishain, if I am missing something, please let me know.

[Bennosuke]

And because I'm an idiot, rolling. [roll0]

[Bennosuke]

And because I'm even stupider, [roll0] and 10 again

EDIT: Please let me know if there are any NPCs that I need to add to the OOC list.

[Bennosuke]

Karl now has 7BP and only a minus 1 modifier

[Bennosuke]

And still an idiot so rolling for Schultz now.

[roll0]

[Thundercracker]

Run for cover. I don’t think Anna can also shoot with her interrupted action but let me know if she can.

[Bennosuke]

I’m now away from book, but one option for celerity is to jump to the head of the initiative order, and by doing so you could move further away and fire, but please double check me on that

[Thundercracker]

I’m now away from book, but one option for celerity is to jump to the head of the initiative order, and by doing so you could move further away and fire, but please double check me on that

Celerity allows interrupting another character's action to take one instant action of my own. So in this case Anna would spend a bp to activate celerity to interrupt the Sheriff's action and cause his melee attack to auto miss by moving away, and keep the normal initiative order. No attacking until her turn (when she gets to move and attack again).

Re: Movement, you can move your speed and attack in a round, or you can move 2x your speed and forego the attack.

[Thundercracker]

I missed a turn. Anna should have gone after Schultz. Let me know if I can take that action after Karl goes.

[Bennosuke]

My apologies. I'd be happy with having Anna get to act and resolving it "before" Lillith or Karl would have gotten to. One issue is that I was kinda going off of what you were telling me about the rules, and had assumed that was Anna's entire action (wasn't reading closely enough). I would be happy to discuss this, but my interpretation is that Anna moved, so she should still have an instant action with which to attack. So if you want to take Anna's turn now, we can resolve it before Karl has gone.

[Thundercracker]

My apologies. I'd be happy with having Anna get to act and resolving it "before" Lillith or Karl would have gotten to. One issue is that I was kinda going off of what you were telling me about the rules, and had assumed that was Anna's entire action (wasn't reading closely enough). I would be happy to discuss this, but my interpretation is that Anna moved, so she should still have an instant action with which to attack. So if you want to take Anna's turn now, we can resolve it before Karl has gone.

the way I read the rules, the celerity interrupt exists completely outside the regular initiative order. Once the interrupt is resolved, combat just continues, so Anna should get a full turn. Not that it matters much because she’s just going to keep falling back and shooting.

[Bennosuke]

That’s not exactly true. You only get one instant action per turn. It explicitly says you can’t use the interruption as a means of attacking twice.

[Thundercracker]

That’s not exactly true. You only get one instant action per turn. It explicitly says you can’t use the interruption as a means of attacking twice.

But you can use it to attack so long as you don’t take a second attack on the same turn, right?

[Bennosuke]

That is my understanding. But I think that deserves a house rule like at celerity five you get an additional instant action for the blood point. Just typing out loud so to speak

[Thundercracker]

That is my understanding. But I think that deserves a house rule like at celerity five you get an additional instant action for the blood point. Just typing out loud so to speak

Honestly I think celerity is pretty powerful as it is. Maybe we can house rule it if it comes up but honestly I don’t think any of us will be hitting celerity 5 anytime soon.

[Bennosuke]

In Shanghai now. Will be working through threads now, as I have like a 5 hour layover, and everything is closed ATM... could really use some coffee though. :smalltongue:

Anyways, because I don't have the same access to my Google Docs where I keep my notes (till I get to Japan) I will be posting here a little more.

Karl is down to 6 BP now, and no longer has any damage modifiers. I've updated his character box. The Sheriff is prone which makes him harder for Karl to hit, so I'm giving Daishain the benefit of the doubt and assuming that rather than trying to hit the prone guy in the legs, he's just trying to hit the prone body.

[Thundercracker]

You might be able to access google docs from your phone on roaming (not WiFi )

[Bennosuke]

Thank you. I board in 45 minutes though.

[Bennosuke]

Daishain, I'm sure Karl will feed as well, but do you want to spend a few more blood points to heal up?

[Daishain]

Indeed, I'll go ahead and heal another 3 points of lethal for now, hopefully the chance to feed before anything else crops up pops up.

[Bennosuke]

Updated in Karl's character box. That leaves Karl with 1 bashing damage (no lethal), and 3/10 blood points. See the IC post about finding a warm body for feeding.

[Thundercracker]

Wits + composure + 2 [roll0]
10 again: [roll1]

[Daishain]

wits+composure+2 [roll0]
ten again [roll1]

Under the circumstances, Karl's likely to drain every last drop of blood he can get.

[Thundercracker]

Anna’s Jain is in her car near the Elysium meeting, unless you’re changing things up.

[Bennosuke]

My apologies. I am wrong.

EDIT: I'm going to allow for a little more conversation to go on, unless you want me to move things along. If I were Anna or Karl, I'd probably want to see what can be done to save the Haven, or to make sure there's nothing there that might break the Masquerade. Aisling was essentially living there with the Ghouls, though I don't know if that means there's anything truly Masquerade breaking there. Thoughts?

[Thundercracker]

Not sure of the exact rolls, but Anna has wits resolve and composure of 3, so assuming both perception and willpower rills are 6d10. We can take whatever dice are needed from below..

Perception: [roll0]
Willpower: [roll1]

10 again: [roll2]

[Daishain]

Karl doesn't know of anything that has great import there, and if the Haven can be saved, it will be through the efforts of the firefighters likely already on the way rather than through anything he can accomplish. So he's staying away from the blaze unless some reason to do otherwise comes up.

[Bennosuke]

Just giving the PCs a moment to get anything they want done before moving things along

[Daishain]

By all means move things along

[Thundercracker]

Move it along pls.

[Thundercracker]

The question is: is there any prey (kine) or predators (Kindred) inside the mansion?

[Bennosuke]

Investigation roll is for the slaughterhouse scene that I suspect is coming up. Looking to determine the general causes of death, whether the dead did it to each other, whether it was a single powerful being (aka the prince), or some other group.

Gosh Daishain, stop getting ahead of me! Am I sooooo predictable??? :smalltongue:

[Daishain]

Gosh Daishain, stop getting ahead of me! Am I sooooo predictable??? :smalltongue:
Well you did foreshadow just a little bit this time around

[Thundercracker]

We just auto fail any roll and gain a beat? How does that work narratively? if Anna autofails a roll to resist sucking some blood from these corpses she gains a beat, but how does that resolve the shaken condition... she realizes that Gorman killed these allies of his and he’s so unhinged he’s become fallible or something?

[Bennosuke]

Mechanically, it is choosing to fail a roll, but I think it is within the context of the character's fear getting the better of them. So it maybe wouldn't apply to a firearms roll for shooting a stray cat, but perhaps a firearms roll for shooting at Prince Gorman as he comes at you like a bat out of hell... if that makes sense.

[Bennosuke]

Hey TC, just wanted to double check. Anna is following Karl into the building? And Karl is using Obfuscate to stay invisible, so is she directly following him?

[Daishain]

Yeah, she just posted about following him. Given the plentiful painting medium, karl would probably dip a finger in blood and leave a trail of spots for her to follow. Each new spot placed only when Karl's sure of no unfriendly observers of course.

[Bennosuke]

Okay, sounds like a plan to me. Will respond IC.

[Daishain]

Int+Occult-1 [roll0]

[Bennosuke]

I think I am waiting to see if the others agree with Karl's plan???

[Thundercracker]

I think I am waiting to see if the others agree with Karl's plan???

I meant to reply but got sidetracked. Just posted ic now.

[Thundercracker]

Initiative: q[roll0]

Can we move around the zombie?

[Bennosuke]

Absolutely, you don't have to fight the zombies, you can try to outrun them... though they aren't exactly meant to be problematic opponents... I was more using them to tell you something about The Prince...

[Bennosuke]

At Daishain: I'd say either Wits or Strength + Brawl would be appropriate for the shoving maneuver. I guess I will roll initiative for the zombies.

[roll0] +2

So the initiative order right now is
Karl 18
Anna 12
Zombies 9.

Waiting for Ladorak.

[Daishain]

I might want to let somebody else do that then if it all possible. Either one of those rolls is a whopping one die for me

[Bennosuke]

I'm just waiting for Ladorak to roll initiative, then I'll start resolving things. Something tells me he started a post and then it didn't submit properly. Assuming Lillith's roll isn't too hot, it will be Karl's action first.

[Thundercracker]

I might want to let somebody else do that then if it all possible. Either one of those rolls is a whopping one die for me

It’s 6 dice for Anna but if she can tell it’s not a tough opponent she’ll engage with the knife. Wouldn’t look good to come running out of the mansion chased by a very weak opponent.

[Ladorak]

Sorry, rolling init:

[roll0]

[Bennosuke]

Sorry everyone, busy busy day. So the initiative order will be:


Karl 18
Anna 12
Zombies 9
Lillith 5 (that roll sucked btw)

So Daishain, back to you!

[Ladorak]

It really did!

[Bennosuke]

Anna doesn't have a huge knowledge about Theban sorcery, but she could probably surmise that they would likely be a member of the Lancea et Sanctum, and are nearby enough to cast the "spell", though how close that has to be she probably has no idea.

[Daishain]

Okay, two good ways to deal with this.

-The three kindred add a bit of extra muscle to shoving the thing around and just rotate the zombie so its no longer in the way before buggering off.

-While its occupied by Anna, Lillith gives it a good stab in the head. Don't know whether or not that's the secret to killing WOD zombies, but its a decent guess for Karl to make I think.

Karl will help as he can with either path but isn't great for taking the lead in either case, so do as you will guys.

[Bennosuke]

Daishain, I know you were waiting for a response, but to keep things moving, what will Karl be doing?

[Thundercracker]

Anna is going to ensure everyone is on the exit side of the zombie and then try to kill it with the knife she has.

[Bennosuke]

So the zombie is tied up in Anna's grapple. I'm waiting on Ladorak for Lillith's turn. If no response by tomorrow morning I will just move things along.

[Thundercracker]

Str + weaponry
[roll0]
10 again: [roll1]

[Bennosuke]

Rolling for the zombie [roll0]

[Bennosuke]

Great, the forum ate my roll. Here is the re-roll for the Zombie [roll0]

EDIT: So the zombie has an abysmal roll and Anna wins the contested grapple contest. She gets to chose the action from: Breaking free of the Grapple, Damaging her opponent, knocking the zombie prone (rules say you both go down, but I think using a chair you can stay upright if you want), Nulifying the zombie's defense against the attack of others, or I suppose taking cover (using the zombie as a not-human shield) though I don't think Anna is too worried about gunfire.

Since each player has their own "enemy" to face, feel free to post response.

[Bennosuke]

Thank you everyone for the patience with me today. Thursdays are going to be the hardest for me, and today was a particularly long one. Patient had a seizure in the middle of clinic, on a day where we were overbooked and everyone showed up.

Anyways, some rolls

[roll0]

[Bennosuke]

Some more rolls [roll0] and [roll1]

[Bennosuke]

Zombie rolling [roll0]

[Bennosuke]

Anything I can do to keep things going?

[Bennosuke]

Some Initiative rolls

[roll0]
[roll1]

Initiative order
Lillith 12
Prince Gorman 9
Kindred possy 7

[Daishain]

Initiative [roll0]

Apologies for not posting before, I had intended to go invisible again, fish a grenade out, and crack open the door

[Thundercracker]

Initiative [roll0]

[Bennosuke]

Initiative order
Karl 13
Lillith 12
Prince Gorman 9
Anna 9
Kindred possy 7

@Daishain: No apologies necessary. Just trying to keep things moving. It is karl's turn first, so I will let you make that roll.

And for ease of use, Prince's defense is a measly 5.

[Daishain]

Messed up the attack roll [roll0]

I would like to use the grenade on the bugger, but I think about the only way to actually damage an aware vamp who is that fast with one is to hold onto it and go give him a bear hug. Karl's not that selfless, nor is he great at bear hugs...

And the rifle shot's a miss, can't say I'm surprised there.

[Thundercracker]

Anna will probably autofail her first shot for that beat. Will describe narrative once I know whether I go before Gorman.

[Bennosuke]

Anna will go after Gorman. My apologies if that was not clear. His base Initiative is higher than Anna's.

@Daishain: If you want you can of course turn the fail into a dramatic failure to gain a beat. This won't resolve the Condition as Anna is doing, but is free XP... well at the expense of a dramatic failure.

It is Lillith's turn.

[Bennosuke]

Sorry for the delayed response, as this also will delay things slightly. The Prince's composure turns this into a single dice roll and a failure. However, talking briefly during combat does not take up an action, and Lillith can still act if Ladorak so desires.

[Erulasto]

Hello friends! Long time no see.

I'd like to start by apologizing for dropping off the face of the planet. I wish I could claim otherwise, but things spiraled out of control in life so fast and hard that getting online was nowhere on my radar. I won't get into all the nitty-gritty details of what was going on, but there was extended periods of hospitalization followed by a court battle to get custody of my kids back from my ex.

Long story short, I am in a much better place now; both physically and mentally.

I'm glad Benno reached out to me again, as I've been feeling supremely guilty for abandoning everyone. It's not logical, but matters such as this rarely are.

So, I'm going to read through the threads and find out what I've missed and go from there.

In the words of the infamous Bender:

"I'm back, baby!"

PS: Ladorak, I got your message but your inbox was full so I couldn't send a response.

[Daishain]

Hey, as various immortal wise men have uttered over the years, "s*** happens"

I'm just glad that things are now under control, at least for the most part.

[Bennosuke]

Erulasto, welcome back, glad to have you. As I mentioned previously, I put Aisling on ice with a stake through the heart. I will PM you to discuss how you want to bring her back in.

Thank you everyone else for the patience. My family is in town till tomorrow, so it's kept me busy in the evenings.

[Bennosuke]

Just some rolls

[roll0] and

[roll1]

[Bennosuke]

Making a couple of rolls now. Viva la revolution

[roll0] [roll1] [roll2] [roll3]

[Daishain]

Right, Karl doesn't think he's going to have much more chance of doing much to the Prince than the others, so I think he'd focus on doing something about the dominated vamps (or perhaps they're ordinary traitors? Tough to say for sure)

Actually killing them would probably just prompt the Prince to dominate others in exchange, so going for reducing their effectiveness instead. I'm thinking of having him slip up to those two while invisible and stealing the magazines from their guns. Would that be possible, and what would you have me roll for that?

[Bennosuke]

I'd say it would be a constested Dex+ Stealth+ Obfuscate vs. Wits+Composure +2 roll, making the suggested rules in the VtR book regarding Face in the Crowd a little more active. I'd argue the 2+ modifier is because Karl literally has to be next to the vampire, and manipulate their weapon without them noticing.

[Bennosuke]

Rolling in competition [roll0]

[Bennosuke]

Rolling for mind controlled kindred
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Bennosuke]

Initiative order
Karl 13
Lillith 12
Prince Gorman 9
Anna 9
Kindred possy 7

Carrying this forward so that I don't have to go to the last page to check.

[Daishain]

Sorry to delay this again. Doesn't sound like operation exploding pants is a go. At best I'll be rolling a single die, and that's only if I burn a willpower to keep it from being a chance die. Unless an opportunity comes up that improves the odds, I don't want these things blowing up on me because I trusted in fate.

How about another go at stealing ammo? Beato's dangerous even without it, but it would make it easier for most of the group to stay focused on the primary target.

[Bennosuke]

Hmmm. I think I want to amend what I said about the brawl/larceny roll. If you want to roll Dex + Stealth + Obfuscate first, and add successes to either dice pool go ahead.

Otherwise with Beato it will be the same stealth roll as it was for the other vampires to pop the clip of a stationary vampire firing at another target.

[Daishain]

Hmmm. I think I want to amend what I said about the brawl/larceny roll. If you want to roll Dex + Stealth + Obfuscate first, and add successes to either dice pool go ahead.

Otherwise with Beato it will be the same stealth roll as it was for the other vampires to pop the clip of a stationary vampire firing at another target.
Right, with that in mind...

Dex+stealth+obfuscate [roll0]
Dex+larceny-5+WP [roll1]
ten again [roll2]

I'll be darned, three successes

[Bennosuke]

Sorry if I wasn't clear, the successes would have added dice to your dice pool, but still 1 success.
I break it down like this: Dex 2 + Larcany 1 + WP 3 + 2 dice for successful stealth roll -5 modifier= 3d10. Pulling from the 10 again pool to get the rest of the dice.

EDIT: Karl is now down to 0 WP.

EDIT 2: So here's what we are going to do with the grenade. We are going to use the Chronicles of Darkness book "Armory" which has grenade rules. Karl, who has to have moved from outside the room, where he ejected the Dominated vampire's clip, all the way back to Prince Gorman is going to have to have used his entire movement for the turn to get to the Prince where he successfully plants the grenade. I am going to use the optional rule for grenade timers, where I am secretly rolling a D10 and subtracting it from Karl's initiative to give the grenade an initiative. It will go off on its initiative. This will HOPEFULLY, give The Prince time to run away from Karl before it goes off.

[Daishain]

Sorry if I wasn't clear, the successes would have added dice to your dice pool, but still 1 success.
I break it down like this: Dex 2 + Larcany 1 + WP 3 + 2 dice for successful stealth roll -5 modifier= 3d10. Pulling from the 10 again pool to get the rest of the dice.

EDIT: Karl is now down to 0 WP.
The way it sounded like did seem a little overly generous. In any case, I'm glad I didn't waste that last will power.

By the way, no, I have not forgotten about the shaken condition. But I am looking for a thematic moment to make use of it. The moment the prince does anything to directly shake Karl's resolve, he'll be playing the part of a jackrabbit on the run from a pack of wolves.

I suspect the Prince will survive the grenade, I'm just hoping it will put a big dent in him, and possibly shake his control of the others

[Bennosuke]

Well you will love what is about to happen then!

Okay, some rolls

[roll0] and [roll1]


And Gorman's [roll2]

[Daishain]

This certainly sounds like fun

[Bennosuke]

Honestly, I expected Gorman to get an exceptional success there, which would have been very bad for Karl. As is though, I think Anna (and or the other allies) are going to need to act fast to get the Prince away from Karl... or vica versa)

[Thundercracker]

Honestly, I expected Gorman to get an exceptional success there, which would have been very bad for Karl. As is though, I think Anna (and or the other allies) are going to need to act fast to get the Prince away from Karl... or vica versa)

Does Anna know about the grenade and Karl’s mesmerized status? What’s the penalty for aiming at the eyes?

[Bennosuke]

I'm fine with Anna being aware of the grenade and Karl's mesmerized status. According to page 178 of VtR 2E, a called shot at the eye is -5.

[Daishain]

Don't forget Gorman's defense is a 5 already. So a called shot to his eye would effectively be at a -10. Might want to try something else.

[Thundercracker]

Don't forget Gorman's defense is a 5 already. So a called shot to his eye would effectively be at a -10. Might want to try something else.

Defense doesn’t apply for firearms, I need to think about what Anna would do in this situation.

[Bennosuke]

Ok. This is gonna be interesting then.

Couple of rolls:

[roll0]

and grenade damage [roll1] +3

[Thundercracker]

If Lilith doesn't finish Gorman off, Anna will use celerity to jump ahead in the queue.

[Bennosuke]

Noted. Gonna be a busy day at work for me

[Erulasto]

Holy smokes.

That's savage.

[Thundercracker]

Holy smokes.

That's savage.

What’s savage?

[Erulasto]

What’s savage?

Blowing up Gorman. :smallwink:

[Bennosuke]

I know Ladorak has been very busy lately. I will give him till this afternoon to respond before otherwise moving things forward.

[Daishain]

Holy smokes.

That's savage.
Why thank you.

In any case, it looks like I'm effectively out of this for the rest of the fight, unless I get any chances to resist later? Probably will autofail the first chance as part of shaken if so anyways.

Either way, if Karl lives long enough to snap out of it, will he remember the details?

[Bennosuke]

Either way, if Karl lives long enough to snap out of it, will he remember the details?

According to the rules, Karl would not remember the time during which he were mesmarized. However, I'm fine with Karl making a Resolve + Composure roll at say -3 to try to remember when all is said and done if you want.


If Lilith doesn't finish Gorman off, Anna will use celerity to jump ahead in the queue.

Lillith will not have finished Gorman off, and so it will now be Anna's turn. Resiliance is a hell of a Discipline.

[Thundercracker]

Okay, the idea here is send Gorman into a frenzy so he can’t doninate, and hope Anna’s brawl can keep him from killing her long enough for everyone else to take him down. Assuming he is still up after taking those four successes from the machine gun.

[Erulasto]

Hey folks!

I’m spamming this into all the OOC threads to give all you kind folks first dibs, if you’re so inclined, as I have thoroughly enjoyed playing with you.

I’m slowly beginning the process of recruitment for a Chronicles of Darkness/Hunter the Vigil campaign.

The link is below!

You’ll get first dibs, if you’re so inclined to join me!

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?596527-Hunter-the-Vigil-Chronicles-of-Darkness-Hold-the-Line-against-the-Night&p=24113682#post24113682

[Thundercracker]

Ohh I don’t have hunter or like.. any free time. Otherwise I would join.

[Erulasto]

Ohh I don’t have hunter or like.. any free time. Otherwise I would join.

Alas! I can help with the book, but not with the free time. :smallwink:

[Bennosuke]

For what it is worth, I will be joining the game, should we get it off the ground.

Anna is now down to 5 WP and 6 BP

IC Post coming shortly.

[Daishain]

I'm interested. A bit busy, but I think I can free up enough time to make a character. I could use a copy of that book though.

My first concept was a little too much like Karl, in spite of the backgrounds being wildly different. Ended up just scrapping it

Second thought is for him to be a computer security expert. A hacker of the legally employed variety, works as a contractor with multiple different companies. Through some whim of chance, he caught a few glimpses of the god machine, and has been obsessed with it ever since.

[Bennosuke]

Everyone, my sincere apologies for being MIA the last day or so. Not that it matters, work has been kicking my butt, and a friend who was supposed to be flying out to visit us on Wednesday was found dead in his apartment, so things have been a little hectic. I am getting a IC post up now. Thank you for the patience.

[Bennosuke]

[roll0] and some extra letters to let this post go through

[Daishain]

I thought I had posted this already, but apparently not...

I'm not rolling. I'll auto fail and resolve the shaken condition that way. I don't particularly want to stand out of the rest of this fight in a haze, but it seems an appropriate moment.

[Bennosuke]

Very well. Karl gains a beat, resolves himself of the Shaken condition, and takes himself out of the fight. With Aisling and Karl "down" in their own ways, that leaves Lillith and Anna left to fend for themselves. This just got very interesting! Do you want to put an IC post up detailing Karl's struggle with his mesmarism or anything?

Posting from my phone ATM, but will try to get an IC post with Beato's reaction up later today.

[Bennosuke]

Initiative order
Karl 13
Lillith 12
Prince Gorman and minions 9
Anna 9
Kindred possy 7

[roll0]

[roll1]

[roll2]

[Bennosuke]

[roll0]

[roll1]

[Thundercracker]

Definitely still interested in part 3. Looking forward to setting up the mental institution / food bank.

[Bennosuke]

I'm glad. I'm looking forward to returning the game to a bit of street level play (or at least closer than the city politicking that this story focused on). There is obviously going to be some fallout for Anna with Daniel, as well as for Karl with his son... and don't forget the Ghouls!

I have very clear ideas of a few scenes for every character, but please please please be clear with me about what stories you want to play, both with your aspirations and otherwise.

[Erulasto]

I'm glad. I'm looking forward to returning the game to a bit of street level play (or at least closer than the city politicking that this story focused on). There is obviously going to be some fallout for Anna with Daniel, as well as for Karl with his son... and don't forget the Ghouls!

I have very clear ideas of a few scenes for every character, but please please please be clear with me about what stories you want to play, both with your aspirations and otherwise.

Benno, I think most of the plot points and goals of Aisling wouldn't have changed much despite her torpor. If anything, it might have made her be a bit more...vehement in achieving her goals. She's been in torpor twice now in less than a year. Even if this one was a lot shorter than the last one.....

Also...here's the breaking point roll for her learning that first dot in Cruac.

Learning a dot in Cruac is a breaking point for Humanity 4, which is a roll of 2 dice if I'm correct.

[roll0]

EDIT: As I understand it, that's a normal success for a breaking point. Which means...her Humanity doesn't decrease. But she gains either the Bestial, Wanton or Competitive condition?

I think she had the Competitive condition already from her interaction with Indra. Would that still be in effect post-Torpor? I could make a case for Bestial, given it's tied to Cruac. Wanton might be interesting, but I'm not sure it's as fitting. But ultimately, Benno, I leave the decision to you. I'm fine with any of them, really. More flavor for the character, ultimately.

[Thundercracker]

1. Anna intends to search the Prince’s haven for Miho’s mirror.

2. Get the hospital purchased and set up, along with the domain and exclusivity (so nobody else in the city can start a blood farm). This would probably involve cashing in the boons she’s earned with both the Prince and the Ordo. Get Celestine set up as the administrator / CEO, and start identifying candidates to ghoul to be the loyal workers who will take care of making sure the operation stays hidden from the kine authorities / inspectors.
3. Stay close to Daniel. This will probably involve convincing Ariel she’s not a threat. Or seducing her, whatever it takes.
4. Have some fun with Gabrielle and Katie, separately, make sure they’re both doing okay.
5. Gain more information on that gang she and Karl investigated earlier, take them down.
6. Continue her training with Miho and Julian.
Edit: 7. Make a good impression on the new Sheriff. She is a hound and wants to do a good job making the city safer.

[Erulasto]

I figured I'd repost the aspirations here, Benno, for ease of use.

1. Become known to the Kindred so she is safe from predation.
2a. Reveal the truth behind her past insofar as how it relates to her Sire, the book and Mother Blackstar's interest.
2b. Learn all the secrets from the Book of Gazren.
3a. Destroy Mother Blackstar and take what is hers so it can never hurt Aisling again.
3b. Investigate the attackers to find out who was truly responsible and why.
3c. Discover the secrets of Cruac.
4. Find a way of securing the loyalty of the Ghouls in her service so they can't betray her.

That's what I had in my character sheet. Some of them look like they may not be applicable any longer. Like the first one. Hence the strikeout. I think the one about discovering the attackers was moot as well as I believe that was Indra and her friends.

[Bennosuke]

Sorry for the delay in responses.

@Erulasto: Aisling's roll allows her to hold onto her humanity. I believe the Bestial condition would make the most sense both in regards to Aisling's learning of Cruac, and in regards to her nature as a feral child. However, I already have that Aisling has both the Bestial and Competitive conditions on her Character Box! Technically, if you read the condition, it should go away after a day (one day per Blood potency). So Erulasto, I give you a few options.

1. You take Wanton, and therefore have one of each of the Breakingpoint/Lashing Out conditions. This I am least interested in, but I leave it up to you as to how you want to play Aisling.

2. You "keep" Bestial, insofar as the the condition wore off, but then Aisling got it back.

3. We double down on the condition Bestial. It normally gives a -2 to rolls to resist frenzy, -2 to defense, and it makes it easier for others to manipulate her. So instead, we change -2 to -4. This would make Aisling very "fragile" in a way, but would heighten the drama. As a result, playing into and resolving the condition will be worth 2 beats instead.

In regards to your listed Aspirations, the struck out Aspiration was resolved, and the last three are what I have in Aisling's character box. I think the spread on Aspiraiton "3", regarding The Circle of Crone and Lady Blackstar are too heterogenous. Perhaps we can consolidate, change or focus. I like it being focused on The Circle of Crone though.


@TC: I assume the above are scenes you want to explore rather than aspirations. Do you want to explore The Prince's Haven now, before the end of "this scene", or is this something Anna will wait for another night???

[Thundercracker]

Sorry for the delay in responses.

@Erulasto: Aisling's roll allows her to hold onto her humanity. I believe the Bestial condition would make the most sense both in regards to Aisling's learning of Cruac, and in regards to her nature as a feral child. However, I already have that Aisling has both the Bestial and Competitive conditions on her Character Box! Technically, if you read the condition, it should go away after a day (one day per Blood potency). So Erulasto, I give you a few options.

1. You take Wanton, and therefore have one of each of the Breakingpoint/Lashing Out conditions. This I am least interested in, but I leave it up to you as to how you want to play Aisling.

2. You "keep" Bestial, insofar as the the condition wore off, but then Aisling got it back.

3. We double down on the condition Bestial. It normally gives a -2 to rolls to resist frenzy, -2 to defense, and it makes it easier for others to manipulate her. So instead, we change -2 to -4. This would make Aisling very "fragile" in a way, but would heighten the drama. As a result, playing into and resolving the condition will be worth 2 beats instead.

In regards to your listed Aspirations, the struck out Aspiration was resolved, and the last three are what I have in Aisling's character box. I think the spread on Aspiraiton "3", regarding The Circle of Crone and Lady Blackstar are too heterogenous. Perhaps we can consolidate, change or focus. I like it being focused on The Circle of Crone though.


@TC: I assume the above are scenes you want to explore rather than aspirations. Do you want to explore The Prince's Haven now, before the end of "this scene", or is this something Anna will wait for another night???

Yeah those are to give you scene ideas. Aspirations remain mostly the same I believe. Anna will definitely explore the Prince’s place tonight, as soon as the immediate threat is over.

[Erulasto]

Benno: I agree that I’m not a huge fan of ‘tripling up’ on the conditions. I think that doubling down on the Bestial condition is the most appropriate. While you’re right, she’d be much more fragile in some ways, it also strikes me as being really ‘in-character’ in a lot of ways. The original concept for Aisling was ‘Maiden of the Wilds’, so…yeah. I’m down for that one. It’s been a pretty traumatic period of time for her, and to top it off with all of a sudden learning the rudimentary secrets of the Circle’s blood magic?

As far as the aspirations go, how does this look?

1. Reveal the truth behind the Book of Gazren and how it relates to his actions with putting her in Torpor.
2. Find a way of securing the loyalty of her Ghouls so they can’t betray her and build her own herd of devotee’s.
3. Rise to power in the Circle of Crone to depose Mother Blackstar and take what is hers.

[Bennosuke]

@TC: Sounds good. We will keep things going then :smallsmile:

@Erulasto: Sounds good as well. I will update your character box and mark the Condition "Bestial x2" for simplicity sake. I very much like how you've worded your updated Aspirations. I will also add these to your character box.

As a side thought, how would you feel about doing some sort of short "Torpor Dream Sequence" while the other players wrap things up. It looks like we may go on for a little bit longer, and this may be a good way to explore a few things? Let me know and then I'll write you in IC.

[Erulasto]

@TC: Sounds good. We will keep things going then :smallsmile:

@Erulasto: Sounds good as well. I will update your character box and mark the Condition "Bestial x2" for simplicity sake. I very much like how you've worded your updated Aspirations. I will also add these to your character box.

As a side thought, how would you feel about doing some sort of short "Torpor Dream Sequence" while the other players wrap things up. It looks like we may go on for a little bit longer, and this may be a good way to explore a few things? Let me know and then I'll write you in IC.

I think that's a great idea. I didn't think vampires dreamt, but I have absolutely no objections on this route.

[Bennosuke]

I think it's more of a carry over from 1E, but Kindred dream when they are in torpor. This used to be used to explain "fog of the ages" in 1E, but that was nerfed for 2E if I remember correctly. However, per pg 105 of the 2E rulebook, "During her slumber, she experiences strange, nonsensical dreams that keep her mind active and exercised. Usually this means she's prepared to adapt to a new world. Sometimes this goes awry; she wakes up a whole new person, or rarely with distorted memories of her past existence." I'm basically using staking as a form of torpor, which allows for the dramatic dreaming I'm going to include for you in my upcoming IC post, but also is a valid interpretation from the book (also page 105).

[Bennosuke]

Anna's wits + investigation + WP [roll0]
and 10 again [roll1]

[Daishain]

Okay, just spitballing here,

It seems to me like Alejandro and Julian are the highest ranking kindred here, but with them having a problem with each other right now, it doesn't seem likely that either will be able to effectively take charge. Correct? Would the group in general at least take instruction from Karl in such a situation?

From there, I am guessing that we do not have a professional Fixer/Cleaner on hand. If so that probably makes Karl the closest thing the group has to an expert at this. His focus is usually on trying to uncover the truth rather than cover it up, but he would still rather intimately familiar with what methods do and do not usually work in regards to keeping police/detectives off of the right trail.

With that in mind, Int+Investigation roll to consider such possibilities? [roll0]

[Bennosuke]

Correct? Would the group in general at least take instruction from Karl in such a situation?

I'd be happy to let you make a Presence+ Expression/Persuasion roll + Status Kindred/SF to see to what extent the group would take to Karl's leadership.

In regards to the roll you made, I count two successes, but before we resolve it, I want to make sure I understand what you are trying to accomplish. Are you trying to figure out what Masquerade breeches need to be cleaned up, or what the best means of getting rid of evidence is, or what?

[Daishain]

I'd be happy to let you make a Presence+ Expression/Persuasion roll + Status Kindred/SF to see to what extent the group would take to Karl's leadership.

In regards to the roll you made, I count two successes, but before we resolve it, I want to make sure I understand what you are trying to accomplish. Are you trying to figure out what Masquerade breeches need to be cleaned up, or what the best means of getting rid of evidence is, or what?

Ultimately, we need to figure both out, but the roll was intended for the latter

[Thundercracker]

Anna’s not going to spend a whole lot of time in the basement with the others. Once it becomes apparent there’s not much there she’ll head to the rest of the mansion. Then she’ll do a quick once over to find likely hiding places or maybe she’ll get lucky and it’ll be laying out, after which she’ll search the most likely places until someone stops her, the cleanup is almost done, or there’s two hours remaining until sunrise because she wants enough time to go get her car and get home to sleep.

[Daishain]

All right, the way I see it, we have three options to push for in regards to covering things up. Three stories to tell.

Presumably, enough of the staff here have families to make pretending like nothing happened not an option.

Option one, we clean this place stem to stern, and make it look like everyone just walked out and vanished. That is a lot of missing person cases however, and even if we do an excellent job getting rid of every last scrap of evidence, that kind of thing will have people poking into the matter for decades to come just for the sheer mystery of it all, and those people could easily stumble upon other interesting things about The night life here.

Option two, we clean things up most of the way and arrange for what looks like an accidental natural gas explosion. Regrettably the staff were trapped and burned to death. If successful, this would lead to the fewest questions going forward, but there are a lot of things that can give the game away, especially if some of the bodies remain intact enough to prove they died from something other than fire or smoke inhalation. Which is pretty likely, since again we cannot use accelerants without making it obvious that it was arson. Arson specialists are getting good enough at that these days that they can tell you specifically what refinery the gasoline used to start a fire came from and from there narrow down the potential places it was bought.

Option three, embrace the carnage. Don't bother hiding the fact that people were murdered here. Instead, make it look like an entirely human serial killer finally went completely nuts, killed the people working for him, and deliberately burned down his home before disappearing. This would definitely have severe social implications, and the cops will be all over the matter. On the plus side, it means we would not have to bother hiding the evidence of murder and arson, just the evidence that we were involved for that vampires or anything else of the sort exist. In addition, we will be pointing the cops at a red herring, with any luck at all they will start chasing the official owner of the home, who I assume does not actually exist. As a bonus, in supporting the story, it's really does not hurt that the owner of this place actually was a Serial killer and left the bodies to prove it.

[Bennosuke]

I am assuming Daishain's post above is for the players, so I won't respond to this.

I simply want to apologize for being MIA the last few days. Taking care of the puppy, plus a certain amount of self imposed stress/guilt about my and my wife's work schedules in relation to taking care of the dog has left me very strung out lately.

(I won't bore you but put simply, we both work long hours, but want the best for the dog without leaving it alone all day. Fortunately, we have figured a few things out)

I am working on posts for all games now, but just wanted to apologize, as I know I went silent without reaching out.

[Daishain]

I was trying to work through my thinking on this, and hoping for some input from either you or the other players. I've about reached my limit in terms of being able to fake being an expert on the sort of thing trying to work out the best response to the situation, and I'm not sure I want to Google stuff like "how do I make arson look like an accident?"

Also, congratulations on the new addition to the family, I hope you are happy together. Do make sure to get started on training early, especially if it is a large breed or a working-class dog. It will save you a lot of headaches later

[Bennosuke]

Thank you!!! I took the week off to do just that. He's whip smart, picks up on things early. Almost 9 weeks now but holds his bladder/bowel for 4-5 hours and waits almost always till we get outside to go (I take him out more frequently, but even still he doesn't go that often).

In terms of your options, I will let the other players weigh in.

[Thundercracker]

I was trying to work through my thinking on this, and hoping for some input from either you or the other players. I've about reached my limit in terms of being able to fake being an expert on the sort of thing trying to work out the best response to the situation, and I'm not sure I want to Google stuff like "how do I make arson look like an accident?"

Also, congratulations on the new addition to the family, I hope you are happy together. Do make sure to get started on training early, especially if it is a large breed or a working-class dog. It will save you a lot of headaches later
We don’t have to go into super specifics. We can just state the outcome we want to achieve, benmo gives us the difficulty, we rolll along with the other Kindred however many times we have hours left, and let the dice determine how successful we are. Then we rp out the consequences in the next chapter.

Honestly I’m fine with Karl taking charge at this point and directing everyone in cleanup and that’s the important RP part.

Edit: also what Karl suggested about waiting a day or two was pretty much my thought as well. It would take that long to get a warrant to search the place.

[Bennosuke]

@TC: Just to be clear, Father Benito Pedro Cambon (ie Padre Calavera) is still the Nosferatu Primogen of The Spear, regardless of the destruction of Prince Gorman or their allegiance.

[Thundercracker]

@TC: Just to be clear, Father Benito Pedro Cambon (ie Padre Calavera) is still the Nosferatu Primogen of The Spear, regardless of the destruction of Prince Gorman or their allegiance.

Ok. Hmm. He probably hates my guts because we helped Julian capture Mobius and return him to the Ordo. And helped the brujah kill one of his ppl tho he probably doesn’t know that.

[Bennosuke]

I think it’s safe to assume that the coterie is not loved by the Spear ;)

[Erulasto]

I think it’s safe to assume that the coterie is not loved by the Spear ;)

Yeah? We don't love them either!

[Thundercracker]

Ooh secret passages. Too bad I didn’t think of that.

[Erulasto]

Is that the same plant from the Circle of Crone meeting Aisling went to?

[Bennosuke]

Just as an aside, I have not "responded" to Anna and Lillith because it seemed like they were still discussing. But please let me know how/if you want them moved.

[Daishain]

Given Alejandro's reaction, I think it's a safe bet it is either the same plant or the same kind of plant. Not that Karl knows anything about that.

[Thundercracker]

Just as an aside, I have not "responded" to Anna and Lillith because it seemed like they were still discussing. But please let me know how/if you want them moved.

Oh. I thought we were done. Is there something else for us to do? Honestly Anna's just going to keep searching and looting until she's convinced there's nothing more to find, or she can't do it safely anymore. Ideally she's looking for the mirror but if she can't find it she might as well gather what other stuff she can and return it to people later to garner favor. She'll probably leave about two hours before sunrise before heading off. Does she have her backpack with her, or something to carry stuff in?

[Bennosuke]

I honestly have nothing else specifically for Anna and Lillith to do. I kinda figured it was a wrap earlier, but everyone kept searching :smalltongue: And as a quick hint... The Prince never had the Mirror!!!

I don't think Anna has a backpack, but there are trash bags and the like. I don't think it would be too hard to rig something together.

[Thundercracker]

I honestly have nothing else specifically for Anna and Lillith to do. I kinda figured it was a wrap earlier, but everyone kept searching :smalltongue: And as a quick hint... The Prince never had the Mirror!!!

I don't think Anna has a backpack, but there are trash bags and the like. I don't think it would be too hard to rig something together.

Anna doesn’t know who had the mirror, she’s assuming the prince had it since he presumably diablerized estella. Going to RP with Lilith for the time being while we search.

[Bennosuke]

Okay then, as it looks like everyone is about ready, I plan on wrapping things up in the next few posts. Please consider this when responding to my upcoming IC post, the goal will be to finish up in the next round or so of posting.

[Erulasto]

Okay then, as it looks like everyone is about ready, I plan on wrapping things up in the next few posts. Please consider this when responding to my upcoming IC post, the goal will be to finish up in the next round or so of posting.

I'm pretty much good to move on. The dream was a nice touch and a great chance to see a hint of the life Aisling had with Gazren before her embrace.

[Bennosuke]

Okay, here we go with the beats tally. To spare me from having to write this for individual characters, all characters gain three beats for finishing this Act of the story, which was a very extended scene, as well as a single beat towards each of the shared aspirations (Depose Gorman, gain political power for the coterie, and protect the ghouls). This totals to 1xp and 1 beat straight for each character.

I am also giving the coterie a shared Status (SF Kindred) OO, for their relationship to the new Prince and their role in removing Gorman.

Beyond the above:

-Anna: Anna gains a beat towards her first Aspiration of gaining safety and security, related to everything that happened in the last scene and the gain in status. She gains a beat for convincing Victor to help her with her blood supply plans. Anna gains a beat for killing, and therefore resolving the Tempted condition. Anna gains an extra beat for the shared aspiration of protecting mortal companions in ferrying Bernardo through the Opera House. Therefore, Anna has gained 2 experience points, and is now at 1 beat and 5 xp.

-Karl: Karl gains a beat for surviving the chase scene against Schultz as part of his aspiration to overthrow and kill The Sheriff (this is separate than the beat I gave Karl for killing the sheriff, note he also already got a beat for damage taken during that fight). Karl gains a beat for killing and therefore resolving the Tempted condition. Karl gains an extra beat for the shared aspiration of protecting mortal companions in ferrying Gabrielle through the Operah house. Karl gains 4 beats and 1 xp total, bringing his new tally to 0 beats and 4 XP.

-Lillith: Gains a beat for taking significant damage into her right most health boxes. She gains an extra beat towards humiliating the Prince, in so far as she took part in killing him (I don't think we have to resolve this aspiration if you want, I could see Lillith getting a job for Prince D'Agostino in propaganda against Gorman if that's something you are interested in Ladorak). She therefore gains 1 xp and 3 beats for a new total of 4 beats and 1 xp.

-Aisling: Aisling gains a beat for her dream, in which she (I believe) now knows more about the purpose of Gazren's book. She overall gains 2 beats and 1 xp for a new total of 4 beats and 1xp.


Please let me know if and how you want to spend XP. Please let me know if you are updating yoru aspirations. I am updating everyone's character boxes now. I will propose new Coterie Aspirations shortly

EDIT: Note Karl must replace his resolved aspiration of killing Schultz.

[Erulasto]

I think I'd agree. She does know a bit more about it now. Plus it opens some new questions for her too.

I'm going to hold off on spending any XP since she spent time in Torpor, but my immediate goals for spending will be an increase to the Occult skill, a specialization in Crone Lore and some more Cruac and Protean.

Benno, do you want me to let everyone get a post in before she wakes? Do you want to write it, or am I okay to do it (keeping in mind Bestial x2 condition and post-frenzy).

[Thundercracker]

Overthrow prince Gorman sub aspiration can go.

Did Anna receive a beat for getting her mortal relatives and ex fiancée out of town?

The third aspiration can go since that’s basically just spending xp. Instead I think we should replace it with: secure her role as a Hound, gain the approval of the new Sheriff and gain a reputation among the city as an effective Hound.

Xp spend will be one in coil of the wyrm which she is studying under Miho to learn.

[Bennosuke]

@Erulasto: Yes, go ahead and post now, my IC post pretty much agrees with what you asked.

@TC: Would you give me a list of your new proposed 3 aspirations? I gave her beats for protecting Daniel for that back with that interlude scene I believe. A coil of the dragon in your chosen mystery is 3 xp. I will subtract this from your character box. Please update your character sheet with the coil "Stir the Beast", page 157.

[Thundercracker]

Aspirations:
1. Gain safety and security.
1a. Gain domain and legal control over a mental institution for the purpose of creating a blood farm.
1b. Gain trustworthy help during the day (ghoul, staff, etc). (Celestine)
1c. Create a safe haven for resting during the day (coven)
1d. Create a safehouse which can be fled to in times of trouble.
1e. Address the animosity of the Spear
1f. Continue to gain influence within the Ordo.
1g. Solidify the relationship with Daniel and Ariel
2. End organized crime in the city.
2a. Eliminate Kindred reliance on organized crime in the city
2a(i). Discover the various Kindred needs which are filled by organized crime in the city and devise alternative methods by which they can be met.
2a(ii). Identify Kindred who need to be swayed in order to implement said alternative methods, and sway them
2b. Identify members of organized crime in the city
2c. Identify allies (among both Kine and Kindred) who share the same goal, like a judge, a police captain or chief, and a district attorney.
3. Take on the role of Hound
3a. Make a positive impression on the new Sheriff
3b. Become known in the city as an effective Hound
3c. Find Lady Miho’s mirror

Edit: realized I forgot to add the bit about Daniel and added that as part of aspiration 1.

[Bennosuke]

Can we narrow Aspiration 1 to " Gain domain and legal control over a mental institution for the purpose of creating a blood farm.", as the rest of the aspiration is basically covered under a group aspiration?

Sorry for the delay in posting. New resident yesterday + three admissions meant I didn't eat/drink anything other than coffee till I got home late to cook my wife and myself dinner.

[Thundercracker]

Yes that’s fine.

[Bennosuke]

@TC: I have updated Anna's aspirations in her Character Box according to what we discussed, and fleshed out Aspiration 1 a little. Please let me know if this is okay.

@Daishain: Karl must replace his resolved aspiration of killing Schultz.

@All: I've updated the Coterie Aspirations, please review as these are additional ways to make beats.

[Thundercracker]

Anna has a major boon from d'agnostino.

[Bennosuke]

My apologies, you are correct. I never updated any of the characters' boons from D'Agostino. I've added this to the character boxes for Karl, Anna and Aisling.

[Bennosuke]

How many hours left until Dawn? And is there a target that Aisling would more easily be able to access? I don’t know if she’d be likely to just pick a random stranger off the street and kill them, but I also don’t think she’d know where to find someone with ties to Gorman or the Sheriff.

Maybe Blackstar, but that would end horribly and despite Beastial x2 I can’t see her being that stupid.

Its somewhere after 4am. There's probably about 1.5-2 hours left before dawn depending on how much you want to push it.

Aisling may not know where to find someone tied to Gorman, but both Anna and Karl are members of the Invictus and would probably know...

[Thundercracker]

Anna is Ordo Dracul.

[Bennosuke]

Oy. My bad. Sleep deprivation is my only excuse

[Erulasto]

@ALL: I edited my last IC post to include a question about Gorman's old allies. FYI.

[Bennosuke]

My sincere apologies everyone. To say the last few days have been kicking my butt would be an understatement. On Monday I was at work till after 9pm, and yesterday, before the end of work all I had to eat or drink was a small bowl of cereal we give to patients and a little carton of milk.

Anyways, my post rate should be improved for the rest of the week!

Getting to everything now.

[Thundercracker]

Where and how Anna hunts is going to depend on Lilith providing a target for Aisling. Anna might just suck some vitae from whoever she decides to take down. Will let Aisling decide what she wants to do.

[Bennosuke]

Ok, sounds fair. And sorry again about botching Anna's Covenant. I think I associate Anna and Karl as being from the same background because they are both Mekhets, but of course it is Lillith and Karl who are Invictus members.

[Thundercracker]

Ah don’t worry about it, I attribute it to sleep deprivation. Messes me up too.

Edit: FYI Anna is going to try to talk Aisling out of attacking another Kindred on the way, to go for a kine instead.

[Erulasto]

I don't think Aisling's target needs to be Kindred. I'd venture to say the Beast just wants a bit of come-uppance to someone that the Prince had in their pocket. Even a ghoul or a favoured mortal servant.

I think, while it's not something Aisling could pull off herself, that finding a target like that would be a politics or status roll, maybe? Knowing who is who in the former Prince's retinue?

[Thundercracker]

I don't think Aisling's target needs to be Kindred. I'd venture to say the Beast just wants a bit of come-uppance to someone that the Prince had in their pocket. Even a ghoul or a favoured mortal servant.

I think, while it's not something Aisling could pull off herself, that finding a target like that would be a politics or status roll, maybe? Knowing who is who in the former Prince's retinue?

That’s what Lilith just did and identified someone, but she hasn’t told us yet.

Anna to know of a ghoul or mortal and where to find them?: int + politics:[roll0]
10 again:
[roll1]

[Bennosuke]

TC is corect, but unfortunately, Anna's been too isolated with the Ordo Dracul and does not know Invictus politics well enough to think of someone vulnerable who was allied with The Prince.

[Ladorak]

Only need to replace one of my aspirations;
1. Everything in now in flux, secure a position of power once the new status quo settles.
2: Show up my Sire.
3: Make a masterpiece commemorating the fire the night of the fire

[Bennosuke]

Apologies everyone again and again and again for my delays in posting. Everything is again work related, though I believe now through the end of next week will be easier. IC post pending

@Ladorak: I like the proposed aspiration, and am updating Lillith's character box.

[Erulasto]

Sorry for the delay. Been crazy busy at work and not getting a proper amount of sleep during the day. I feel like a vampire lately, minus all the cool bits.

Also, 10-Again.

[roll0]

That wasn't a great stealth roll all in all. Hehe

[Erulasto]

10 Again for the Grapple Check

[roll0]

[Erulasto]

Here's the initiative check. Can I use the prior roll for my combat roll for the first round?

And how many ghouls are in there with Zach?

[roll0]

As far as how I'd hope this plays out? Hopefully incapacitate the ghouls, or render them unwilling to engage on Zach's behalf. While it'd be neat to convert them to our cause, I don't think that's viable for Aisling even without the Beast riding her hard. Her primary goal will be to take care of Zach in as swift, brutal and merciless a fashion as she can.

Just the notion of venting her Beast on him. Poor sap.

On a side note....maybe we should find a way of making sure the Ghouls aren't going to rat us out? Zach was one of Gorman's henchmen, so I don't think they'd get a lot of support from those involved in killing him....but we've still got enough enemies (Blackstar, for example) who might capitalize on some perceived wrongdoing.

EDIT: Also....the ghouls might be a good source of blood to replenish our stores?

[Bennosuke]

Initiative roll [roll0] +4

Attack roll [roll1]

I will wait for Ladorak's rolls before resolving everyone's rolls.

EDIT: OOOH. This looks REALLY BAD for Zach.

[Daishain]

Maybe I should have come with you guys after all. Oh well, little late

[Bennosuke]

If you have more time I can start you off with a conversation with Gabe.

[Daishain]

I was more thinking about maybe being able to get them in there a bit more quietly, but sure. Things have quieted down a bit on my end

[Thundercracker]

Maybe I should have come with you guys after all. Oh well, little late

Actually Anna thinks this whole trip is a Very Bad Idea, and there are two reasons she’s going along with it:

1. Coterie cohesiveness. This is OOC. Lilith and Aisling are both relatively new, and really Anna would probably just cut both of them loose because going after this guy unprovoked is a clear violation of the traditions. But because that’s not cool for the game, and because this whole thing was prompted by Aisling’s frenzy risk which erulasto isn’t in control of, I’m making Anna’s choices so its easier to get the two characters integrated into the coterie, rather than out of self preservation which is what she’d probably do if she were alone.
2. She didn’t get to use her new sword against Gorman and she’s thirsty. She might get to kill two birds with one stone here, since there are ghouls present.

[Erulasto]

I’m not going to lie, I think this is a horrible idea as well. Hehe but, really, I’m doing my best to play up the Bestial x2 condition. It’s a balancing act. I don’t want Aisling to become a liability for the rest of her Coterie.

But I do appreciate the help!

EDIT: I'm glad it looks bad for Zach! The last thing I want is to traumatize everyone with an unnecessary fight.

[Ladorak]

Init: dex+composure
1+3
[roll0]

[Bennosuke]

So I'm not even going to ask Ladorak to give me an attack roll, his initiative roll pretty much seals this for me. I'm just going to treat this as a "down and dirty combat" and give it to the players.

Also, yes, this is a terrible terrible idea. But that's the point of the beats and conditions system, to encourage the players to make decisions that from a meta or player standpoint, but serve to heighten the drama or drive further storytelling. The players are going to get exactly what they want out of this scene, and a few players will get some extra beats, but you better bet this will have ramifications in the future!

[Thundercracker]

So I'm not even going to ask Ladorak to give me an attack roll, his initiative roll pretty much seals this for me. I'm just going to treat this as a "down and dirty combat" and give it to the players.

Also, yes, this is a terrible terrible idea. But that's the point of the beats and conditions system, to encourage the players to make decisions that from a meta or player standpoint, but serve to heighten the drama or drive further storytelling. The players are going to get exactly what they want out of this scene, and a few players will get some extra beats, but you better bet this will have ramifications in the future!

Honestly the beats and conditions aren't really factoring into it for me (though I definitely won't say no to the beats, there's about 5 things I want to purchase right now). I'm doing it to keep the coterie together. Just curious why you had my character take part in the beating, _and_ cut the guy's hand off when the stated goal was to:
1. keep aisling safe
2. prevent anyone from escaping

Anna isn't under compulsion or frenzy (as far as I know) so actions during the combat should have been mine to determine. I had pictured my character watching impassively while Aisling had her way with him, pulling her off when she went too far, or stepping in if it started looking dangerous for her. The _plan_ (contrived as it was, since my character would have just let Aisling run amok while she safely checked into a hotel) was to say she went with Aisling to make sure she didn't kill anyone. That goes out the window a bit with this guy's hand severed forever (unless we can just stick it back on, curious about that).

I could be ok with it so long as we can justify why things went so pear shaped. Maybe Zach looked like he was getting the upper hand, so Anna relieved him of it?

Also since you're asking, what Anna wants out of this scene is to first step blood bond Zach. That'll leave her at 3 at the start of tomorrow evening which means hunting will be first up on the agenda, and probably second up on the agenda and possibly third.

[Bennosuke]

Just curious why you had my character take part in the beating, _and_ cut the guy's hand off when the stated goal was to:
1. keep aisling safe
2. prevent anyone from escaping

Anna isn't under compulsion or frenzy (as far as I know) so actions during the combat should have been mine to determine. I had pictured my character watching impassively while Aisling had her way with him, pulling her off when she went too far, or stepping in if it started looking dangerous for her. The _plan_ (contrived as it was, since my character would have just let Aisling run amok while she safely checked into a hotel) was to say she went with Aisling to make sure she didn't kill anyone. That goes out the window a bit with this guy's hand severed forever (unless we can just stick it back on, curious about that).

I could be ok with it so long as we can justify why things went so pear shaped. Maybe Zach looked like he was getting the upper hand, so Anna relieved him of it?

My apologies if you felt I forced your character to do something outside of what you wanted... which is obviously not my intention. My description of Anna was partly based on your attack roll with three successes and my interpretation of the following (apologies again if I did misinterpret):


2. She didn’t get to use her new sword against Gorman and she’s thirsty. She might get to kill two birds with one stone here, since there are ghouls present.

I figured given your attack roll, and the above, it was fitting that Anna got to do something cool with her sword as part of the beat down. I had Anna act first, because she had the highest initiative.

Ultimately, I'm happy to just retcon what I posted and have Anna in a more passive position, or however you want to describe her participation. It was simply meant to be a little bit of flare to reward the players for their rolls and help move this along (again, played this out as a beatdown scene rather than letting things drag out with round by round combat on a relatively unimportant fight). Hope this clarifies, and that ultimately we are still cool.


That goes out the window a bit with this guy's hand severed forever (unless we can just stick it back on, curious about that).

While it isn't explicit, I assume the hand can either be re-attached or regrown. The book basically states that vampires can recover from any non-aggrevated damage with enough time and blood, and there are plenty of "cannon" VtR stories with this described. Just my take on it though.


Also since you're asking, what Anna wants out of this scene is to first step blood bond Zach. That'll leave her at 3 at the start of tomorrow evening which means hunting will be first up on the agenda, and probably second up on the agenda and possibly third

VERY INTERESTING :smallamused:. I guess let me know what you want to have had Anna do, then just feel free to RP through the blood bonding.

[Thundercracker]

Yeah we’re cool. Other ppl describing my char’s actions is a pet peeve of mine (be it player or GM).

I actually like the idea of Anna jumping in when (she thinks) Zach looks like he might get the upper hand, stepping back again until he’s beaten to a bloody pulp, then helping Lilith pull Aisling back from the brink. If we’re good with that let’s say that’s what happened.

I’ll post assuming it’s ok.

[Bennosuke]

Sounds good to me. Responding IC in a moment.

[Erulasto]

I’m so sorry for the delay. I’ve had a nasty stomach bug and I’m just able to get out of bed (more or less) now. I’m making posts as I can.

[Bennosuke]

Should I give Lillith or Aisling a chance to act/react, or shall I just close things up???

[Thundercracker]

Should I give Lillith or Aisling a chance to act/react, or shall I just close things up???

Unless something's going to happen, I think we can continue RP in spoilers. Would be nice to have a chat on the way to the hotel as well.

[Erulasto]

I think the notion of continuing via spoilers works fine. I'm sure Aisling is going to get a stern talking to. This was a pretty reckless task for them to undertake. But I hope the immediate benefits outweigh the potential harm. Wishful thinking, perhaps.

[Bennosuke]

Okay, finally had time to catch myself up with everything. I'm going to wrap up the this interlude and give out a few more beats, and address a few things. If the players want to continue "playing out" the end of interlude scenes that's fine by me.

Outside of beats there are a few things to address:
-I was originally going to have one more interlude scene where the characters hunt together, as a coterie, having them hanging out at Mel's Diner and taking down some prey together. I see this as a way give back some lost vitae, but also help establish the coterie as a unit. Does the group still want to do this??? The one issue is it means that I may do a little time warping for characters starting the next Act.

-@Daishain: I still need you to update Karl's aspirations, at the very least replacing the "Kill Schultz" aspiration

-The coterie's haven has been at least partially burned to the ground. However, the coterie still hold's the shared merit "Safe Place" at 3 dots. We can resolve this one of several ways. 1. The three dots can be redistributed to another set of shared merits, the haven is completely wrecked, and a new Coterie Aspiration is obtain a new shared haven. 2. Because the place wasn't fully burned to the ground it will only be a matter of a few weeks till a new and usable structure is built. Being able to control the design and rebuilding, the new haven comes back even better than before. The group's merits are simply on hold, and we assume each individual character has similar dots worth of temporary safe place as they rely on friends or use personal resources. 3. You all are smarter than me and have a better idea that you want to float.

-As always, let me know if you want to update aspirations or spend more XP on anything.

On to the odds and sods of beats and character specific planning.

-Aisling: Aisling gets a single beat for completing this "short" interlude. She gets two more beats for resolving the x2 Bestial Condition, and in doing so, making some new enemies for the coterie. With these three beats, Aisling has 1XP and 2 beats. Let me know if you want to buy anything. Otherwise, my idea for Aisling's first scene of Act 4 is her attending her next Circle coven to continue shaking things up, working towards her third aspiration. Please let me know if you have another scene you would prefer to pursue first.

-Anna: Anna gets a single beat for completing this "short" interlude. She gets a second beat for the blood bonding of Zach which was a terrifyingly brilliant idea. This brings her to 3 beats and 2 xp. Let me know if you want to buy anything or if I'm missing anything. Otherwise, my idea for Anna's first scene in Act 4 would be her attending a formal meeting with the new Prince D'Agostino to spend her boon and ask for the property of the mental institution in San Francisco. This will also possibly feed into the Hound aspiration as well, but please let me know if there's something you would rather start with.

-Karl: So Karl was a little inactive during this last scene, but he gets a single beat for completing this "short" interlude. This brings Karl to 1 beat and 4 XP. Please let me know if you see another way to get a beat. Again, please let me know what Karl's updated aspirations are. In regards to his first scene in Act 4, I think the first thing to address would be a phone call with Fred Rugg, which may require a little bit of time warping if you are okay with it.

-Lillith: Lillith gets a single beat for completing this "short" interlude. I'm giving her a second beat for assisting in the beating of Zach, as this both works towards her old Aspiration of embarrassing the Prince, and towards her new one of establishing her power. This brings Lillith to 1 beat and 2 XP. Let me know what you think, but I think the first scene for Lillith in Act 4 involves her finding out that her Sire has come to town in the unstable political environment of San Francisco.

Please speak up as always if you think I missed a beat somewhere, or if there's something else I can help make this better.

[Thundercracker]

I like option 2 because we don’t need to come up with a new thing, we can just keep working with what we’ve got and keep improving it.

Re: hunting, Anna looks like crap. She has a bullet hole in her shoulder which she will patch up with the first aid kit in her car, and she’s so low on vitae she is not going to be able to seduce anyone, so she’s going to go on her own and find someone in an alley somewhere. Maybe make it look like a mugging. After that she might hunt with the coterie.

I’m good with the starting point. At last starting to get some movement on this aspiration which is good.

[Daishain]

I think Karl would replace his first aspiration with some variant of "Secure an unofficial or unassuming position advising the new prince."
Probably have a couple of subobjectives involving helping clean house after the transition of power, sorting out anyone not likely to accept the new ruler or were complicit in Gorman's crimes. Also likely some work making sure whatever influence he gains is safe, either assuring rivals that he's no threat, or that he's got enough leverage on their activities to bury them for good, whichever fits the situation.

Karl hates being in the limelight, having all the attention is to wear a target on your back. He likes effective power, but he'd much prefer to be the man in the shadows behind the obvious rulers that no one pays as much attention to as they should.

[Bennosuke]

As mentioned in the werewolf OOC thread:


My sincere apologies for being away so long this week. Suffice to say it has been a busy and dramatic week. That said... Happy Halloween! In the spirit of the game and the holiday, I am giving every character one free Halloween beat! I'm not going to tally it up in this post, but you will find updates in your character sheet.

Beyond this, I really hoped to respond to TC and Daishain earlier, so that we could move things forward, but it has been a truly hectic week for me. For the sake of simplicity sake, I'm going to be doing some picking and choosing quotes to reply.


Re: hunting, Anna looks like crap. She has a bullet hole in her shoulder which she will patch up with the first aid kit in her car, and she’s so low on vitae she is not going to be able to seduce anyone, so she’s going to go on her own and find someone in an alley somewhere. Maybe make it look like a mugging. After that she might hunt with the coterie.

Sorry if this was not clear, but my imagination is that the hunting scene would take place at the start of the next evening, rather than at the end of this night... as dawn is approaching. Because of this, Anna's wounds should be fully healed. Per the rules for "Open Wounds", Anna and Karl's Bane, the wounds heal up once you go to sleep.

That said, if you want Anna to hunt once before dawn, and want to jump someone, you can have Anna give me a Dex+ Brawl, or Str+ Stealth roll depending on how Anna is going to go about it.


I think Karl would replace his first aspiration with some variant of "Secure an unofficial or unassuming position advising the new prince."
Probably have a couple of subobjectives involving helping clean house after the transition of power, sorting out anyone not likely to accept the new ruler or were complicit in Gorman's crimes. Also likely some work making sure whatever influence he gains is safe, either assuring rivals that he's no threat, or that he's got enough leverage on their activities to bury them for good, whichever fits the situation.

How would you feel about Karl taking on a role of Hound, like Anna. A hound is basically a go getter for the Sheriff (whomever that may become :smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin:), sometimes they are more like toughs, and sometimes they are more like spies or information collectors. They have a bit of power, but ultimately, the extent of their responsibility in Kindred society is doing as they are told. Karl could possibly even negotiate to make his new role "secret" or whatever, so he doesn't draw any more attention.

I know Erulasto is tied up at the moment, but I think Ladorak may have missed my former post. Not to delay things too long, but I will PM him now to check this thread, and will otherwise move the IC thread along first thing in the morning. This will also give TC and Daishain a chance to respond.

[Thundercracker]

Anna is going to hunt first thing tomorrow evening, not before dawn.
She’s still at 1 bashing damage and hasn’t healed it. If the wounds close up over night that’s fine, I was assuming they don’t if the damage remains.

[Bennosuke]

So would you be amenable to the group hunt then?

[Thundercracker]

So would you be amenable to the group hunt then?

Yes sure. Long as she is convinced it’s just as fast of a way to get some blood.

Honestly she’s just going to keep hunting until she is full. Everything else is going on hold the night after the Prince’s death. She’ll also withdraw some cash to replace what she gave Zach.

Edit: oh, does this count as in between chapters and we are allowed to spend resources again?

[Bennosuke]

Yes, this counts as in between chapters. This is more of an extra scene to help establish the coterie as a coterie, a group of vampires who work together.

[Ladorak]

Sorry I missed that, that plot hook sounds great :)

[Bennosuke]

Good. Just wanted to double check. Sorry for being a nudge.

[Bennosuke]

I have adjusted Anna's Blood Pool to 2/10. Holding off IC to let the other players reply.

[Erulasto]

Apologies for the brief absence. I was working double shifts to help with the launch of a new computer system for the provincial healthcare we use and it was a huge mess.

I’m back to my regular shifts and hours now.

Thanks!

[Bennosuke]

And I apologize as well, though for what it's worth, my post rate should be much improved from here through next week.

[Daishain]

In answer to the question which I'd meant to answer before, no, I will not be spending the WP. Better to go ahead and repair the damage.

[Daishain]

In answer to the question which I'd meant to answer before, no, I will not be spending the WP. Better to go ahead and repair the damage.

[Bennosuke]

UPdated Karl's character box to reflect this.

[Thundercracker]

Benno, you're letting us narrate our own feeding, right? We don't need to wait for NPCs to respond?

[Bennosuke]

Yes, to whatever extent you wish to, though I’m happy to play out characters. The point is to let you guys play out a Feeding scene the way you want. Let me know about how much Anna took from the vagabond

[Thundercracker]

Yes, to whatever extent you wish to, though I’m happy to play out characters. The point is to let you guys play out a Feeding scene the way you want. Let me know about how much Anna took from the vagabond

She would take about two or three, most likely. Just enough to take the edge off so she can move on to the main event.