Ideas for Vampire: The Masquerade/The Requiem

[Jeivar]

My friends and I have dabbled in these two, but tend to have problems coming up with storylines that hold our interest.
Can someone throw me some ideas for quests that are interesting and fun and make the most of the unique setting, but don't have that many moving parts?

[Edwin]

Maybe you could give some more precise requests.

Like, what type of game you want, and so on.

Not that I have much experience with the Vampire: X series, I do have some with writing up fluff.

[Ichneumon]

What's the appeal of Vampire: X? Never played it, how is the system and what do you exactly do?

[Jeivar]

Maybe you could give some more precise requests.

Like, what type of game you want, and so on.

Just not the uber-complex social and political maneuvering that makes up the background. Other than that . . . anything really, as long as there's some violence involved.

[FunnyMattress]

I ran a very successful chronicle with the theme of "Who are the Monsters, Anyway?" It began with the group covering up a Masquerade breach by killing the witness. She had a husband, a librarian who then hunted the PCs wherever they went. He killed their mortal servants, attacked their businesses, sent their associates to Final Death.

And when they finally threw him off a warehouse roof and killed him.....He came back as a revenant.

[Totally Guy]

We've found that the players have to take on a larger degree of plot finding responsibilities.

Let the players share with you a goal they'd like to reasonalby achieve. My current Changeling character has of list of things he wants, items money can't buy, Love, Adventure, Aquire an archaelogical artefact that does something supernatural.

I think you need to establish a setting status quo. Then they can create goals to challenge it. Or you could make a villain that does challenge it in a way that the players can fight against. But establishing that status quo can result in spending a few session where not a lot happens.

What's the appeal of Vampire: X? Never played it, how is the system and what do you exactly do?

I thought this exactly when we started going into it. Vampires are a bit silly really. Like embarrassing to talk about.

I went into it thinking like a D&D party. But it all went wrong.

Another party member had other plans to kill off the guy that was missing and frame someone else for doing so.

I joked that I could take the missing guy's job at the start of the session and that started me as the target for the other player's plans. He tricked me into coming up with all the plans he wanted and I took the story to his desired conclusion thinking I'd chosen it myself.

Then he killed the guy we were looking for a I was framed for this murder. This could have got me killed but an NPC had secret plans of his own that managed to coincide wit our mission and I escaped in the crossfire. Also that player left for University.

Normally it's not so serious. But from now on I make the plans and watch as my party members do everything I want. And I loyally follow them and praise the plans they think they are theirs. My goals are a driving force in the story and that's the appeal.

[KillianHawkeye]

While there are some pre-written adventures floating around out there, Vampire is in general a more character-driven story than D&D is. That means the characters should all have their own goals and such, and the Storyteller should make up things which directly challenge each of them in some way.

Of course, if you need to get around challenging the characters' goals specifically, you can instead challenge the goals of someone the characters are beholden to, such as the Prince or their sire. Say somebody comes to town looking to challenge the Prince's established power base, and the PCs get sent to shake them down. Or their sire's old enemy returns and he needs the characters' help to deal with it or its minions. Or one of the higher-ups in the city wants to use the PCs to fulfill one of their plots, whether the PCs are interested or not.

And those are just ones dealing with other vampires. Getting mortals involved as well is always good, because it's a challenge that may risk the masquerade itself. Politicians, police investigators, and journalists can all pose a major threat to a vampire's privacy. And there's always werewolves or other supernatural creatures to make your players have a bad day.

The key, of course, is to never completely give your players what they want. They may succeed on their current mission, but it never fulfills their goals exactly as they expect. There should always be someone more powerful who is trying to reach their own goals first, and it should be a powerful reward for the PCs to find someone whose goals align with theirs. Even when they finally get what they want, there should be a downside that wasn't expected. Throw in a complication. Keep the story going. Vampires may be immortal, but this is the World of Darkness, here. Nobody is allowed to be happy for long.