After a while Nice stops brooding (moping?), he wanders across the room and slides into a leather chair.
He looks around and finally speaks.
[sblock=Nice on Disciplines]
OK. Disciplines, the "magic" you were talking about is called Disciplines. We'll start there since I suppose that's the best part.
They're less like magic, I guess and more like super powers. From the funny books? Superman has heat vision and cold breath and can fly. Same thing. Of course it's not kryptonite or whatever that gives us our powers. Our power come from our blood. You can call it out with time and training.
They're called disciplines, I suppose, because they're so codified. For each one you can advance in power in a set way, and it works the same way for everyone. I can meet someone from all the way around the world and if I know Obfuscate and he knows Obfuscate then it works the same way. It's like 'vampire physics'.
For example: Obfuscate is the name of the discipline I was using to hide us. I'm good with it because I'm a Nosferatu. Actually, he grins slightly I'm just good with it period. The first rank, which even neonates can usually pick up quickly, you make stuff disappear. Over time, if you keep practicing you'll get better and better at what you know and get new powers.
So the next power of Obfuscate, Mask of Tranquility, hides your vampire nature, from other vampires. That's why, when you look at me, you don't "see" me as a vampire. My powers hide my beast from yours. My beast still has a fit every time I see one of you though.
All the powers have special names by the way. So Obfuscate's powers are: Touch of Shadow, Mask of Tranquility, Cloak of Night, The Familiar Stranger, Cloak the Gathering. Nice ticks off each name on a finger.
Don't get too excited though. Discplines aren't called that for laughs. It takes a lot of focus and time. I've been working on Obfuscate for almost 40 years, I'm a natural with the discipline and I only really got to Cloak the Gathering locked down in the last couple of years. He looks over at the shrouded body And just because you've got Touch, don't necessarily think you're going to be able to carry around bodies like it's nothing. Even I need to get psyched up a bit to make sure that comes off.
There's a saying to help you remember: Three from Five out of Ten
Each kindred has facility with three Disciplines, granted by their clan of which there are five. And these Disciplines are drawn from the natural pool of Ten. There are more disciplines than the Ten but lets stick with those for now. Practically speaking those are the ones that matter to you.
Following me so far?
[/sblock]
[sblock=Nice on Vampire Society]
"Your not members of a society that cares about you anymore. This is a feudal state. You're important only if you provide a service to your lords.
If that doesn't make sense then think about it as England in the dark ages; there's one person, the Prince, who has all the power. Unlike England though the power isn't hereditary, it's claimed by the person who can take it.
But once they have it, it's like the Celestial Mandate in Ancient China. Even if everyone hated them before they were in charge they're the boss, the ultimate authority once they get in. Everybody gets into line.
Nice pokes at a lab table with a skinny finger. The system works like this because every-one's been indoctrinated into believing it. By the time your old enough to be considered a person in kindred society, you've been living and breathing it of so long it's been natural. Plus, you know, you're old then. People respect you. Especially here in America, where kindred aren't so old. A couple hundred years here and you are basically an elder. So we get a lot of people from elsewhere who've done a hundred or two and want to be someone.
And the indoctrination isn't just like normal mortal stuff: threats, fear, rewards for compliance they have have two extra tools: The blood bond, and disciplines. Compliance is only voluntary in the sense that you can chose how your mind is changed. You change it yourself or you let someone change it for you.
It's all driven really by the covenants. The Invictus specifically. They're the oldest covenant, and, they're basically the lords of this feudal system. They have have special rules and protocol and so they have a sort of clan culture or whatever, but its like the Communist Party in the People's Republic. If you're not a member you're not important.
The other covenants are basically religious. The Sanctified, the Order and the Circle. They each worship something different, and they each have developed disciplines that "prove" Nice makes flying quote-marks with his fingers their particularly world view is right. What they can do is closer to magic, at least magic in the storybooks. But it's members only and they take the religious part very serious.
[/sblock]
[sblock=Nice on the Clans]
So the clans, right? There are five. Each one has facility with one unique discipline and two shared disciplines. And they share certain traits, some of it's biological, or whatever we have that passes for biology, some of it's social.
Nosferatu, for example, Nice looks at Diego have the curse. Its, ah, like a tell, you know, when you play cards. There's something that gives you away to humans, to kindred. Each Nosferatu's weakness is different, they have their own way that they've been marked by the curse. For me," he gestures at his scarf colored face It's my face. Or my head since I lost all my hair. And my skin turned this color. You look normal, but if you're really Nosferatu there's gonna be something that freaks people out.
The other clans its harder to say. There's a conventional wisdom, you know, about what each's problem is. So people say Daeva can't control themselves, but I don't know if it's actually that they can't control themselves, or they just think, oh we're Daeva, we're beautiful, everyone loves us, we can do whatever we want.
Nice has a sour look on his face.
Turning to Diego
So our powers are Obfuscate, Nightmare, which it sounds like you have already and Vigor, which is strength.
Did Vanderchilde train you in Nightmare specifically? If he didn't and you've got it you may be a natural at it. Nightmare can be really useful, but you need to be careful. LB doesn't love it if you start freaking people with supernatural powers for no reason.
The social component of Nosferatu, I guess, is that we share a bond because of the curse. If one Daeva is getting killed on the street another Daeva is just as likely to watch, or join the beating, as to help out. Nos don't do that.
Turning to Archer and Beth
Your sire's are both Mekhet, so both of you are as well. Your power is Auspex, which is the antonym of Obfuscate, you can improve your senses, and eventually see the unseen, like those women on late night TV, only for real. You also know Obfuscate and Celerity, which is speed.
Auspex is hard to learn. I know a bit, since your sire's are gone I can try to teach you, but it's a real bear to get your blood around. He looks at Archer and Beth for a minute Either of you seen anything weird? Hearing gets really acute, or seeing in the dark or any of that?
Your weakness is supposedly that sunlight and fire burn you more. Me? The last time I got caught in sunlight, I lost my arm to the elbow. And it took two weeks to grow back. So I don't know how that's supposed to be some sort of special weakness
[sblock=Nice's Attitude]You may have the feeling that Nice thinks the Nosferatu curse is much worse than that of the other clans.[/sblock]
He looks at Beth for a moment, like he's going to say something else. He rubs his head for a while. Finally he says Constance knew some, other, ah stuff. Things outside of the Ten. But she's gone now, so you shouldn't really worry about it.
Turning to Cole
Ventrue right? Dominate, Resilience and Animalism. You know the dril.
Ventrue don't have any weaknesses. Nice seems to be explaining more to the rest of the group than to Cole himself People say they're unstable, but, almost everywhere they are they're the rulers. Ventrue basically are the Invictus and the Invictus rulers are mostly Ventrue. Absolute power and all that. Dominate backs it all up. If you absolutely positively need to have someone do exactly what you want, when you want, how you want it done then that's where Dominate comes in.
Turning to Biggs
I have no idea what you are. Embracingone of them? He gestures around the room Dumb. But survivable.
You know, get dispensation from LB, promise him a favor or just move to another city.
Embracing a hunter, like you? And setting you lose? With no controls? And, your whole shtick? I've never been embraced? I'm gonna kill vampires that kill humans?
Whoever embraced you has a some kind of serious serious death wish.
Just so I tell you and you've heard it there are precisely two vampires I know of who are supposed to have not been embraced by another vampire. One is the guy who kill Jesus, was cursed by God, and founded the Sanctified. The other, believe it or not, is Dracula, and he was also supposedly cursed by God, then he went on to become some sort of super vampire, and disappeared. There is whole covenant, the Order, who are dedicated to becoming just like him.
So you want to tell everyone you think you were embraced by magic or something? Fine.
But you're horning in on some people's turf. Especially the Sanctified. They take their cursed right hand of god position real serious.
Maybe you being a hunter and all, getting embraced was a big shock or something? And you've blocked the memory?Nice doesn't sound like he's convinced himself of his own explanation, but he seems to be working at it.
[/sblock]
[sblock=Nice on Essential Matters]
So anyway there are some essential things you need to know.
The beast, lives inside of you. It's rabid but sometimes it's not exactly crazy. If you lose yourself to it, it's a long dark road. Some situations excite the beast, they can push you into losing control to it. Those are the three frenzies I mentioned earlier. Try to stay full on blood, avoid sunlight and fire and keep your cool. The last one is the hardest really. Nobody likes a guy who can't keep his beast in check. It goes both ways though, you set off somebody else's beast, you make them lose their cool and that can be a slight against them. Some older kindred take that seriously.
We sleep during the day. Expect to fall asleep at dawn and wake up at dusk.
And I mean asleep like, unconcious. Stay out too long and you made nod off on a bench and never wake up.
That's cause of the fire and sunlight thing. Humans burn, but vampires? We're made of kindling. Sunlight's even worse.
As vampires get older, they get more powerful. The blood thickens. As that happens your potency rises. You get more powerful. You meet a vampire who's more potent, which for you is going to be a lot of people in the city, and your beast will freak out like you're looking at sunlight and start running away.
Potency is good, in the sense that it gives you other benefits.... you're blood gets more concentrated. You can call up more power to do things: like healing up after a fight. If you use some disciplines you'll find that your body is consuming blood, using it like fuel.
Usually a kindred doesn't require too much blood to survive, but when things turn bad nothing is going to keep you alive like being full up on blood.
Potency is bad in the sense that.... after a while a vampire can get too powerful, too potent. You stop being able to survive on the blood of humans, you start feeding on other vampires. Nobody does that, not if you're sane.
Instead you go to sleep. But not people sleep. You sleep for a hundred years or something and wake up and you're blood's thinned. You don't need to worry about that though. I've been awake for fourty years and I can still feed on animals.
They're gross, but drink enough and you'll fill up just the same, and nobody freaks out if you lose control and drink a cow dry.
[/sblock]
[sblock=OOC]
Origionally wanted this info to come from a PC.... Best laid plans and all that.
Sorry about the rough formating... looked like people were getting anxious.
Nice is obviously biased but his views are practically useful even if a bit incorrect in spots.
This comes out over the course of an hour or two of game time. Ask questions as much as you like, don't worry about it being one coherent conversation.[/sblock]
