{Vampire: The Masquerade - OOC} New York by Night

[reapersaurus]

LOL okay my turn for a long rant.

you're more than welcome to rant, but that post left me a bit confused.
I read it 3 times, but I just didn't get the gist of what you're saying.

not that that matters, mind you, i just thought i'd let you know.... I'll just let you two talk now. *backing away quietly*

edit : I'm beginning to see why V:tM is a VERY story-based system.
I don't know of too many people that concentrate on the rules too much - maybe because they get in the way of the kinds of stories that people want to tell, and characters that people want to play? ?

I think I'm going to throw away the rulebook for this game.

I think the In-Character thread is quite stunning so far, so the rules don't matter - let's just keep with the creative writing -
Kitana - the interspersing of very-appropriate lyrics with your characters thoughts was impressive.

 

[Shalimar]

you're more than welcome to rant, but that post left me a bit confused.
I read it 3 times, but I just didn't get the gist of what you're saying.

not that that matters, mind you, i just thought i'd let you know.... I'll just let you two talk now. *backing away quietly*

edit : I'm beginning to see why V:tM is a VERY story-based system.
I don't know of too many people that concentrate on the rules too much - maybe because they get in the way of the kinds of stories that people want to tell, and characters that people want to play? ?

I think I'm going to throw away the rulebook for this game.

I think the In-Character thread is quite stunning so far, so the rules don't matter - let's just keep with the creative writing -
Kitana - the interspersing of very-appropriate lyrics with your characters thoughts was impressive.

I think this is why it is known as a storyteller system. Its about telling a story, the dice are just enablers (is that a word?). I would much rather tell a good story then see things bogged down in rules that make it too complex to have fun.

That said I would love any comments you have on Sabrina Reap

 

[KitanaVorr]

Well to make it succinct the post was meant to say the following:

Don't bug me about Cate's stats interfering with Vych's stats, bug Vych about her stats interfering with Cate's stats. You'll get more headway with her than you'll ever get with me.

I see your points, but I completely disagree with your end assessment about how Cate and Vych sharing similiar interests or attributes would be detrimental to the game in any way.

I don't mind discussing characters, but I dislike it when people complain that my choice of character might disrupt their fun.

Vych and Cate are unique characters.

And yes, if you stick your head in the rules too much you forget to enjoy the game so just enjoy it! And let the story take you where it wants to take you.

Thank you. I liked the interspersing of the lyrics myself.

 

[reapersaurus]

I would much rather tell a good story then see things bogged down in rules that make it too complex to have fun.

That said I would love any comments you have on Sabrina Reap

I wholeheartedly agree.
I however don't believe that the rules I've been referring to are complex in any way. (# of dots = # of dice = # of chances to match a target #, the higher the harder)

re: Sabrina
Well, since you asked................ (god, I wish I could resist)

I've been baffled from the get-go at her stats vs her clan.
A Manipulative Brujah?
Playing cross-stereotype is one thing, but it runs the danger of making the character too ineffective game-mechanic wise.
Again, our character's realistic survivability I think has been just about thrown out the window (we all would be dog food in a real vampire world, IMO), so it really doesn't matter in our game.

About her background:
I never bought that Elizabeth wouldn't have been punished more for doing something so heinous. (maybe a little more background about Elizabeth would help explain why she wasn't blood-hunted?)
Taking a child and Embracing it with no permission, against the wishes of her protector would be the closest thing that vampires have to rape.
And that rape aspect IS a little disturbing.... maybe you'd consider editing out the "American Cancer Society" part of the picture - that IS a real life little girl, after all - I know she won't know you used it, but just on principle...

About her stats:
typo on the Willpower points still (only 2 points spent)
Also, my approach to V:tM characters is to be as effective as you can in your specialty at character creation, then fill in the other areas with exp points later if you want.
What that means for character creation is that instead of making your stats 2,3,3 or something, I go 2,5,1.
The reason for this is that increasing dots after character creation has a penalty.
To increase her Manipulation to 5 later will cost 25 points, if memory serves.
Increasing her Appearance from 2 to 3 would only cost 15 later (saving you 10 points).

Likewise with her Subterfuge score.
It seems that Subterfuge, Expression, etc might be more her character than Brawl or Athletics or Firearms, but you know her much better.
Where does the Firearms come from, by the way?

And I'd definately put all my Discipline points in one Discipline that I wanted to be good at, instead of 1 in each, for the same reason.
Plus, most of the time, a 3 Discipline is more powerful than 3 1 Disciplines.
I don't get her having 1 in Potence.

That's about all the feedback.
I think I finally understand why you want her low gen : to have Nathan be an Elder, right? (I was confused why you'd want her low gen particularly - her powers dont really benefit from it)

 

[reapersaurus]

i think I'm done in the OOC thread re: player feedback.
Have fun.

 

[Shalimar]

I was working from a concept of a character that I was really interested by in a novel actually. If your familiar with the first of Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake vampire hunter series you would know who.

I didn't really create her for her ability to survive a fight, more as a story character. The character I saw that interested me was a child Vampire who became the Master(Prince) of St. Louis. Although the vamp in question was 1000 years or so old I thought it would be interesting to see how she started out.

Once I had the concept of a child in mind I asked myself about what children are like. Being as I had my nephew around temper tantrums sprung to mind, and what is scarier then a child with a temper tantrum? A child with super natural strength having a temper tantrum (smallville comes to mind), and so we give her potence. All children crave attention(and throw tantrums when they don't get it), hence presance. Neither second level discipline really seemed like something she would really work towards(I see those first three dots as more of an innate thing with the blood, especially with those two disciplines) hence the dot of celerity. Actually of all her current disciplines the only one I see her trying to learn to use better at all is presance for a few reasons.

Those reasons being she wants to make Nathan and Jemal proud of her, using powers that remind Nathan of his enemy and failure not really fitting that goal. And yes I know it will be difficult for her to learn a cross-clan discipline but she will want to learn dominate when she finds out about it, and will work extra hard to be able to do things like her brother. She will throw said tantrums if he doesn't agree.

The reason for the low Gen was actually to make her sire fit in with my concept of her( or at the time it was a him, but not so much anymore, can't say why I changed it, not too sure myself). Elizabeth wouldn't have done it in the first place if she wasn't sure she had the leverage over the right people to get away with it. The elders play their games as if everyone is just a pawn on their chessboard, this was just a gambit to sucker Nathan into doing something stupid out of anger. The low gen also played into the whole supernaturally powerful child image.

The skills, talents, and knowledges were really hard for me to place she really shouldn't have anything at too high a score as she is a child and hasn't really even had half of her education, and only 8 or so years to learn the skills. The Fire arms was actually a little bit from my own childhood. If you remember the original mario brothers from regular nes, then you remember duckhunt, something thats pretty easy to play. A few years later when I had reason to pick up a pistol, that had actually gotten me pretty used to the grip and the hand-eye coordination hard as that is to believe. In the 90's those things are much more rampant and easy to get a hold of if you want to, especially to the rich children.

The dot of brawl actually is a mixture of self-defnse classes that were pretty ineffectual because it was more of a debutante social gathering (you know the kind, those mother daughter workshops, the ones that are more about confidence then anything else and then hand out a little bottle of mace at the end)

 

[reapersaurus]

(you know the kind, those mother daughter workshops, the ones that are more about confidence then anything else and then hand out a little bottle of mace at the end)

nope - wouldn't know 'em.

ya, a child is very hard to stat out.

You read vampire fiction? Is it World of Darkness fiction? (you mentioned Prince)
How are they?

 

[Shalimar]

No, the Anita blake vampire series is not World of Darkness at all. But as long as you are ok with a strong female lead I think they are very good reads. She has woven the supernatural into her world just as the WoD has, but in a very different way. The supernatural is fact, everyone knows that they exist. Its pretty interesting.

 

[KitanaVorr]

Also, my approach to V:tM characters is to be as effective as you can in your specialty at character creation, then fill in the other areas with exp points later if you want.
What that means for character creation is that instead of making your stats 2,3,3 or something, I go 2,5,1.
The reason for this is that increasing dots after character creation has a penalty.
To increase her Manipulation to 5 later will cost 25 points, if memory serves.
Increasing her Appearance from 2 to 3 would only cost 15 later (saving you 10 points).
[/i]

I think me, Jemal, Shalimar went the route of making our stats fit our character ideas rather than trying to figure out how to make them the most powerful.

I hope I didn't start all this by giving her the two 5's. Because the only thing I meant by that was to help her stand out in the midst of vampires and hopefully not have them want to make her food. Now that I know what those 5's mean, I might have made the stats lower. I have no interest in making Cate "super vampire of the year" at all. I'm only interested in roleplaying the personality of Cate, not in her specialization (of which the only specialization she has is 'performance art').

Also, do remember that I have never played this game before, don't know all the tricks to it, etc or how anything really works.

EDIT: hehe I am excited about our first week of full roleplaying! Anybody else as bouncy as me?

 

[Ashrem Bayle]

Wow. I'm gone for a few days and look what happens.

A few things to remember:

1. I've siad it before, but I guess I need to say it again. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT CLAN STEREOTYPES. For every reason I can think of for a Toreador to embrace Cate, I can think of one for a Ventrue, Brujah, and even Nosferatu. Remember, these people are PEAPLE not the epitome of their clan. A Toreador is not going to embrace somebody only because they can sing. Likewise, a Ventrue may see something in her that he can't just pass up, and it may have nothing to do with her performance. A Nosferatu may embrace her for no other reason than to destroy her beauty. It happens. They do that. That said, a Malkavian might embrace her because he saw a poodle cross the road instead of a chicken.

2. Cate's performance go so much attention for two reasons. Her exceptional performance (4 successes) AND her 5 successes on her Appearence roll. They way I look at it, thats 9 successes that can effect the audience in some way. Each one compliments the other. They combination of the two is pretty astounding.

3. Rules. Forget about them. They are my domain and I will handle them. If you feel that your character has been slighted because of the way I handle a rule, send me an email. Keep in mind, I may rule something a particular way for a reason. I'm in this for the story, not a playtest or analysis of the Storyteller System. If I feel the system dosn't give a satisfactory way to represent a situation, I'll handle it.

4. What makes you think the man in the corner is Calebros??