Vampire: Dark Ages - New Players Start Here

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Vampire: Dark Ages - New Players Start Here

Post by Goatkiller666 »

So, you're interested in playing in my Dark Ages game? But you're not sure where to start, eh? This is where you start.

In broad terms, this is a table-top role-playing game, based in White Wolf's World of Darkness system. (Sometimes referred to as the old WoD, since White Wolf later came out with an similar system with the same name.) The game assumes all the players are sitting around a table (or just in a room somewhere), with stacks of books handy and huge handfuls of 10-sided dice each. We're abstracting that onto this forum, where I as the storyteller have master copies of everybody's character sheets and stats, and I do all the dice rolling for you.

The format is hopefully pretty straight forward. Players will post descriptions of what they do (and how they feel, etc.), typically in response to each other as well as to my own NPCs. Then I'll post the results of everybody's actions and what the NPCs do in response. Repeat.

Ideally, we can all assume that your characters can handle simple actions, and my hope is to focus on the drama more than the mechanics. So, when reasonable, it's allowed for players to sort of script their own scenes. For example, say you're going to talk to the local lord. You show up at the castle, announce yourself to the guards. It's reasonable to assume that they will be mildly courteous, check your weapons (or not), then direct you to the lord's seneschal before being allowed into the lord's presence. I'm quite okay with a player including all of that, with as much flowery prose as the player wants, throw in some quirks for the guards to make it a more interesting tale, whatever. If the player simply posts "I show up at the gate" and waits for me to reply with "The guards ask your name." then the player posts "I'm joe-bob the smith!" etc. That can make a simple walk across the town take two weeks of real-time posting. So, feel free to handle your own minutae. It also allows you to script the minor NPCs to set you up for the more dramatic lines, if you're into that kind of thing.

If, at some point, you overreach yourselves (generally because some supposedly minor NPC is actually less minor than you knew, and I want to add / change how something goes down) I'll say something in the OOC thread and then edit your post, or ask you to edit it if it's not something simple.

So, first a little bit about the rules. As I said, we're sticking with oWoD rules. I have most of the source books in hard copy here, and many of them in PDF format. And over time, some of the players are transcribing the pertinent sections for me, and we're posting them in threads in the rules forum My intent is to make sure that any time I make an interpretation or change to a rule, I'll get the original rule and the change added to the appropriate rules thread. This isn't a perfect solution for now, but over time it will tend towards perfection. And, as an incentive, I'm willing to grant in-game shiny stuff to those who can transcribe stuff for us. At this point, there is nearly nothing transcribed that would pertain to werewolf characters. Volunteers in this area would be appreciated, especially anybody wishing to play a werewolf.

Now, for the world backstory. I'm choosing to incorporate the Vampire and Werewolf games. I'm specifically denying Changling, Mage, and Wraith. Especially Mage. There will be people in my story who are called mages, but I won't use the rules from the Mage book. By extension, Mummy isn't allowed (though there may be mummies, they just won't use those rules, since I'm kind of denying the Wraith rules that are required for Mummy. Gypsy is just kind of lame. Don't even talk to me about Street Fighter. On the other hand, Kindred of the East would probably be allowed, though… since the story isn't over in Asia, I'd be very resistant to the idea without an amazing backstory. Demon and Hunter will also be allowed, with the understanding that both of those game systems depend on events that happen far to the future. So they're not allowed right now but will be allowed at some point in the future.

Which brings us back to Vampire & Werewolf. So far, the game has been only Vampires; and my intent is to have Vampires be the main theme of all my stories. Werewolves will be major players in the world, and PC werewolves would be allowed, but expect to be dealing with Vampires as a werewolf, either for or against them.

For story reasons, the initial group of players were limited to playing only vampires, and then only vampires of certain clans. Any new players who join the game would, instead of being embraced during the game, would be able to invent some kind of backstory for that. As a result, I'm opening the field up to any / all clans or bloodlines. (Of course, you still have to convince me to allow you to play anything, so power-gamers beware.) The one exception I have to that is the True Brujah. I'm not a fan of Temporis, and I won't allow that in the game. There may be some NPC Brujah who call themselves "True" but they won't be mechanically any different from regular Brujah. Just way way older, and really mad.

As yet, nobody has asked me about playing a werewolf character, so I haven't taken the time to really get specific on them. Other than the obvious stuff, like… all the North American tribes would be denied here in Europe… I can't at the moment think of anything particularly to say about werewolf PCs. At least conceptually. A starting character at this point, as a vamp, would be granted some extra bonus points here and there, and I haven't sorted out what the comparable amount of bonus stuff to give to a were would be. Vamps start out with the normal amount of disciplines, but at 7th generation, which is a big advantage as far as what powers they can choose to gain. To do the same, I'd have to start a werewolf out at a higher rank, but it's kind of silly to have a rank 4 ahroun with only three or four first rank gifts.

Philosophically, White Wolf has the two game systems set up where a starting werewolf can probably beat a starting vamp. Vamps probably top out much higher (some might argue that, but I'm pretty sure I can make a Vamp NPC who'd wipe the floor with any top-end were NPC), so there's going to be a difference curve there. I'm okay with having a starting vamp have more potential while be immediately weaker than a starting were, even if both start with some amount of bonus points. But I have to sort out what "some amount" is, in this case.

Anyway, the general theme of the world is that it's 1205 AD. We're in Europe, though the world includes North Africa, the Middle East, some parts of current Russia, and all that kind of stuff. Our first group of players started out in southern Hungary, and will likely be active in the Transylvania / Hungary / Greece / Turkey kinds of area. (Of course, if the players decide to head off somewhere else, I'll make that happen too.) The second group of players (all hypothetical, at this point) will start out in Vienna, currently part of the Duchy of Austria, in the Holy Roman Empire. While the first group is probably going to be wandering around, the second one is probably going to be staying in Vienna and getting really embroiled in the nuances of the politics there. Or burn down the city. Whatever.

The original group has threads labelled with Scene numbers. (Eventually, I'll add Acts.) The Vienna group has threads labelled with Chapter numbers. (Eventually, I'll add Books.) To get caught up on everything that has gone before, simply start at Scene 0 / Chapter 0 and then read from front to back, then go to Scene 1, etc. In some cases (e.g. - Scene 2), the group split off into smaller groups, so I made several parallel Scene 2 threads. I guess it doesn't really matter what order you read those in, as long as you finish them all before starting Scene 3. I'll try to keep the numbering such that they can all be figured out without too much pain. And, I suppose, I'll throw links into one thread if it starts to interact with another (or a second thread splits off from a first one, as with Scene 4).

Anyway, all that said, what do you actually do if you want to join the game?

First off, you need an account here on the Watch. Most of the die-hard players have a main account they use as themselves, plus secondary (alt) accounts they use just for role-playing in these games. One or the other of those accounts should go over to the OOC thread and post a greeting and ask if I have any room to join. Assuming I do, which I expect to be true for the foreseeable future, I'll tell you so and we'll get started on your character. I'll also grant you access to the hidden forum where the rules are. One of the threads there includes the steps for character creation, from a rules point of view.

At the same time, from a story point of view, just come up with who you want to be. That could be anything from "I'm a former crusader who hears God" to "I'm a gypsy whose family was murdered by Christian soldiers, who raised me as an orphan at a church, where horrible things happened to me". (Yes, those are both actual characters in the game, now.) It'll probably take a bit of finesse to get stats to support that character idea, but we'll make it happen. That's mostly a negotiatioin thing between you and me, so will likely happen via Private Message between our accounts. I'm also frequently logged into various Instant Message clients, so feel free to ping me that way instead, and we can usually zip through this bit in an afternoon. Once I know what your general idea is, I'll massage that into my existing storyline. Either your character will be from out of town and just show up, hilarity ensuing... or your character will always have been in Vienna, and we've simply not ever spoken about it before. I'm not above retroactively adjusting things to make it reasonable for a new player to have a 50yr dead vampire always have been in town doing what he's been doing.

Of course, if some actual user initiated action has in some way interacted with the empty space we're putting you into, we'll have to work around that. So, even if there's one mention two months ago of a character wanting to buy a new dress for the ball, and it is stated offhand that the NPC "Joe-bob" is the best dressmaker in the city... that would preclude someone else from making a player character who's always been the best dressmaker in the city. Unless, of course, your vampire has always been secretly controlling "Joe-bob" from the shadows. So, as I said, we'll massage things so that your new character will fit into what has come before. It might require small changes, or some cheesy excuses for why your character hadn't acted in a significant way before, etc. But we'll make it work.

So then, once that's all done, you've got your character idea approved by me, you've got your character sheet all filled out and approved by me, and we've sorted out how to integrate your character into the storyline, then just go log in as your character and start posting.

At this point, new players will probably be starting in Vienna. If you'd rather start in the middle of the Giovanni Chronicles, that can also be done, but I'd rather not without a good reason.
Last edited by Goatkiller666 on Wed Aug 04, 2010 4:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Goatkiller666 »

ACT I - (The Giovanni Chronicles I: The Last Supper)

Scene 0: Preludes - We are introduced to the player characters.

Scene 1: In the Company of Strangers - The player characters are introduced to each other, and eventually to their future sires.

Scene 2: Harrowing - Each player character has a one-on-one session with one of the sires. Generally, bad things happen. Scene 3: Dinner is Served - The Sires reveal the horrible truth to the players.

Scene 4: In the Halls of the Dead - The players are introduced to the Founders, and start to learn about their condition.

Scene 5: We Are Revolution - The players are reunited with their sires.

Scene 6: Over the river and etc. - The players visit Japheth.

Scene 7: The Offering - The players and their sires visit Japheth together.

ACT II - The Aftermath

Scene 1: The Crossroads - The sires and the players must decide how to proceed.

ACT III - Alina's Story

Scene 1: The Road to Coeris - Alina returns home, only to start her own journey.
Last edited by Goatkiller666 on Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:13 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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Post by Goatkiller666 »

Vienna

Chapter 0: Prologue - Names and pictures, plus a brief bit of information about all of the kindred of Vienna. This includes introductions by player characters, as they choose to join the game. This thread is meant only to be what is "common knowledge" around the city, and won't have amazingly detailed information about anything secret. If your character's backstory would require more details here, I'll provide that to you out of band, so it can be a surprise for everybody else.

April 5th, 1205
Chapter 1: Court - Starting point for all vampires within the city

Chapter 1: The Slums - After the Court, Lament goes into the city.

Chapter 1: The Estates - After the Court, Casper goes into the city.

Chapter 1: The Hunt - After the Court, Lucretia leaves the city.

April 7th
Chapter 1: The Colony - Starting point for wererats within the city. This begins a couple days after the Court, but with different characters. It eventually merges into Far from Vienna (below).

April 8th
Chapter 1: Far from Vienna - Starting point to introduce a few other characters to the storyline, who will head to Vienna Itself shortly. They are joined by characters from The Colony.

April 10th
Chapter 2: The Ball - Isabelle's ball, honoring Hannalore's entry into society.

Chapter 2: East Gate - Several characters converge on the East Gate to the city, for various reasons.

Chapter 2: The Abbey of St. Alfred - Lucretia visits the Doktor's home, including his house guests.

Chapter 2: The Slums - The Further Adventures of Lament.

Chapter 2: The Colony - Kaldrenzi talking to his people.

April 11th
Chapter 3: The Estates - Casper and Faelan each begin the evening at their respective havens.

Chapter 3: The Abbey of St. Alfred - Lucretia begins the evening at the Doktor's haven.

Chapter 3: The Docks - Ekaterina and Sasha together begin the evening with a rude awakening.

Chapter 3: The Slums - Lament and Kaldrenzi each begin the evening in the city's poorer section.

April 12th
Chapter 4: The Estates - Faelan begins the evening in his haven.

Chapter 4: The Slums - Lament begins the evening in her haven.

Chapter 4: The Docks - Ekaterina and Sasha together begin the evening.

Chapter 4: The University - Lucretia begins the evening in her haven.

Chapter 4: The Colony - Kaldrenzi begins the evening surrounded by kin.

Chapter 4: The Woods - Kaldrenzi tries to save Wendell.

April 14th
Chapter 5: The Road East - Kaldrenzi visits his home town in search of the perfect implement.

Chapter 5: The Road North - Ekaterina and Sasha head north to crash a party.

Chapter 5: The Road West - Lucretia begins the evening in her haven.

Chapter 5: The Slums - Lament begins the evening in her haven.

Chapter 5: The Estates - Rudolf begins the evening in his new haven.
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