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OAquinas posted:
I am having serious flashbacks to my main LARP character and her sire... She was a Torrie prostitute with sex as her special interest. So much fun. drat, I really need to get back into LARPing. Thesaya fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Nov 14, 2013 |
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Nov 14, 2013 20:42
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Gantolandon posted:Yes. Sabbat actually does that with entire packs - they mix their blood in the same container and drink it. Three ceremonies and everyone is Blood Bounded with each other. This makes spying on them a really difficult task. Yes, the Vaulderie. Back in the Burning Times, the height of the Inquisition, the younger vampires were being left behind as cannon fodder so their elders could escape from Final Death at the hands of the Inquisitors. Since way back in the early days of vampire society, the Blood Bond was usually foisted on the young as punishment or just a matter of course to ensure obedience. When those younger vampires decided that, hey, they'd like to survive to see another night just like their elders, they had to come up with a way to break the blood bond. The ritual was pretty simple, and became the foundation of the Sabbat's loyalty to each other and their sect. The Vaulderie works a lot like a blood bond, but the mingling of the entire pack in a single vessel (usually about 4-12 vampires) dilutes the mystical hold of vitae. Where the Blood Bond is measured in 3 levels, the Vaulderie is a scale of 1-10, 1 being you couldn't care less about the guy and 10 being not slavish devotion, but more of a comrade in arms you would die to save. The Sabbat sees this as an acceptable compromise to prevent any of their members from being controlled by any enemy of the sect and becoming a spy. Also, every Sabbat is expected to find their way to Mexico City for the big party they have once a year, during which they hold a sect-wide Vaulderie.
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Nov 14, 2013 22:02
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DeusExMachinima posted:You can also share a vampire's blood between a few diablerists if you want to boost your chances of subduing them, but I believe they must be 2 generations above everyone for there to be a level gain. The Ritual of the Bitter Rose, which allows a group of vampires to all drain one vampire together and boost their generation, though they don't get the other perks of diablerie - memories, skills and disciplines, namely. Plus there's a long list of requirements, a number of times a single botched roll could gently caress it all up, and entire paragraphs of fluff that scream 'this is what the Storyteller will use to gently caress you if you abuse this'. The fluff says that there's probably no more than a half-dozen written copies of the ritual in the entire world, so for almost all intents and purposes it may as well not exist. (it pretty much only exists so White Wolf could sell a series of what are essentially dungeon crawl splatbooks with low-generation vampires that nobody would miss at the end) Since the Camarilla clutch the Tremere so very tightly to their bosom, it's considered impolite to point out that their entire clan was born of diablerie, which is against the rules of the Camarilla. There's also the unspoken tradition of looking the other way and whistling while the subject of a Blood Hunt (a declaration by a Prince that the subject of the Hunt may be freely killed by anyone) is diablerized by one of the hunters. Hypocrisy is the beating heart of the Camarilla.
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Nov 14, 2013 23:10
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Tehan posted:Hypocrisy is the beating heart of the Camarilla. What could be more Human?
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Nov 14, 2013 23:13
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RickVoid posted:What could be more Human? 
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Nov 15, 2013 00:33
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Finally got round to install this after buying it ages ago and not playing it. Seems like there are a lot of experienced players here. I'm playing with 8.8. Does anyone have any advice or tips on how to not gimp myself/make a strong character?
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Nov 15, 2013 03:57
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VulpesInculta posted:Finally got round to install this after buying it ages ago and not playing it. Basically, spec for at least some combat, and pump Celerity if you picked a clan that has it. Unless the recent fan patches changed major facets, those were the big ones.
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Nov 15, 2013 04:16
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VulpesInculta posted:Finally got round to install this after buying it ages ago and not playing it. Don't bother with ranged weapons, for one.
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Nov 15, 2013 04:25
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gatz posted:Don't bother with ranged weapons, for one. Yep, not worth it. Decide if you're gonna go combat heavy or not. If not, fully expect portions of the game to feel (and possibly be) impossible to you. Save skill books for the highest dot you can to get the most out of them. There are some guides that explain at what point a skill book can be used if the game doesn't tell you (I forget). Look at your bloodline abilities and boost them, they are how you win for almost every bloodline.
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Nov 15, 2013 04:28
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gatz posted:Don't bother with ranged weapons, for one. I dunno, I seem to remember the automatic shotgun being awesome as all hell. 
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Nov 15, 2013 04:47
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Thesaya posted:I am having serious flashbacks to my main LARP character and her sire... She was a Torrie prostitute with sex as her special interest. So much fun. drat, I really need to get back into LARPing. Pretty sure you don't, actually.
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Nov 15, 2013 04:48
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brozozo posted:I dunno, I seem to remember the automatic shotgun being awesome as all hell. Ehhh, it's as good as a ranged weapon is going to get, but it's still not as good as melee and disciplines.
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Nov 15, 2013 04:52
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The semi-alternative to combat is sneaking, and sometimes one of the talking options. The huge caveat to this: there are sections of the game where combat is absolutely *necessary*. I did ranged combat and was a Tremere; most of the time, that was just fine. Most of the time. Those Sewers being a place where I was perpetually out of ammo, often half dead, and had to reload I forget how many times. And one of the later end bosses, plus the area leading up to the boss. On the flip side, everybody hates those sewers, and by the time you hit end game, you should have many options (including not fighting that boss). Sneaking is almost always a great alternative, except for mandatory fighting sections. Sneaking almost always opens up a new way to go about things. Talking is also extremely useful, but you should specialize in one form of it (persuade, intimidate, seduce). If you're using later fan patches, these should be more balanced, I believe (someone check me on this!). The fact that I can write a whole post saying "yeah, you're gonna have to do some combat, but really you can do most anything and make it work as long as you specialize" -- that's a huge strength to the game. It's another reason why the game has such replay value; you can specialize in a different way, and see the scene unfold in a completely different fashion. I only wish I'd gotten to this thread early enough to suggest "Heather" for our Ventrue lady, in honor of Heathers. It so fits.
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Nov 15, 2013 05:24
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gatz posted:Ehhh, it's as good as a ranged weapon is going to get, but it's still not as good as melee and disciplines.
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Nov 15, 2013 05:29
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Romeo Charlie posted:Ranged weapons are only good once the stats are maxed out for them. Otherwise you're at a disadvantage if you're using them at the start/mid game. The playthrough I did before starting the LP was of a Torreador specializing in ranged weapons and Auspex. I was still doing just as much damage with melee weapons, save for the sniper rifle and flamethrower.. It also doesn't help that the shooting mechanics are about as awkward as they could have made them.
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Nov 15, 2013 05:31
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gatz posted:The playthrough I did before starting the LP was of a Torreador specializing in ranged weapons and Auspex. I was still doing just as much damage with melee weapons, save for the sniper rifle and flamethrower.. It also doesn't help that the shooting mechanics are about as awkward as they could have made them. But I think we can all agree that the best way to kill enemies is the stealth kill.
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Nov 15, 2013 08:20
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Kacie posted:On the flip side, everybody hates those sewers While that is true, for a melee build the sewers are merely an annoyance up until the end the part with the multi-limbed ghouls. Are they supposed to be vozhd?. Unless you're playing a Ventrue and didn't bring blood packs for your prolonged trip through the sewers. As a Ventrue, always bring blood packs, just in case.
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Nov 15, 2013 09:04
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Romeo Charlie posted:But I think we can all agree that the best way to kill enemies is the stealth kill. I dunno, I found the best way was to be playing as a Gangrel, activate Protean and just go on a mad rampage until everything stops moving. The only thing you have to worry about is when you get down to the last guy it's handy to drain him to death instead of tearing him apart because that way you'll never run out of blood. Doesn't work quite as well when there are no humans around, but if you conserve your portable blood supplies you don't need to worry so much about those situations either. The best thing about Protean though is the +1 Wits, which means that doing some tricky computer hacking generally involves turning your hands into claws. Apparently this doesn't hinder typing at all.
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Nov 15, 2013 11:20
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A Curvy Goonette posted:Pretty sure you don't, actually. Hey it was only my second character and I had good storytellers to make an idea I didn't know was very un-vampiric into something that made sense. She developed into quite a good character with time.
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Nov 15, 2013 13:32
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Tiggum posted:I dunno, I found the best way was to be playing as a Gangrel, activate Protean and just go on a mad rampage until everything stops moving. The only thing you have to worry about is when you get down to the last guy it's handy to drain him to death instead of tearing him apart because that way you'll never run out of blood. Doesn't work quite as well when there are no humans around, but if you conserve your portable blood supplies you don't need to worry so much about those situations either. PROFESSOR WEREBAT, PHD is literally the best part of being a Gangrel.
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Nov 15, 2013 15:06
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Caustic Soda posted:While that is true, for a melee build the sewers are merely an annoyance up until the end the part with the multi-limbed ghouls. Are they supposed to be vozhd?. Oh, no. You'd know if it was one of those. That would be a boss fight in and of itself. The ones you mention are probably just war ghouls. They're fleshcrafted and bonecrafted for efficiency in combat. A Tzimisce would probably add in extra limbs if the creature can manage them.
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Nov 15, 2013 19:24
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This kinda seems fun to guess who the Sire may have been. Throwing in my two cents.Vicissitude posted:
Then we get to the agoge. Unlike the other clans who give their childer a few years, the Ventrue don't think that's enough time for a childe to be sufficiently educated, nor do they think the knowledge of one sire a competent teacher. When a new Blue-blood is embraced, drat near every Ventrue in the city participates in teaching the new childe, or else they become fair game in the Test; more on that later. They are taught anything and everything each Blue-blood can give them: History - clan or otherwise, business & management, finances, law, politics, etiquette, anything these teachers think is important. The new Ventrue is then rigorously tested on all these things to see if they're up to snuff by the Elders' standards. That is the meat an potatoes of any Ventrue's agoge; a school of hard knocks that extends beyond the 'coming out' party any other Kindred would have by now. It's during the teaching time that competing Blue-bloods can turn the childe into their own asset to turn loose when the Final Exam comes. Any Ventrue teacher can effectively police a new childe to make sure an unsanctioned Embrace does not happen. Which then raises the question as to how old or powerful our Sire is. First off there's the Test in the agoge. The final exam is to establish a personal sphere of power on your own. Any clan or public location is fair game except for the Ventrue - unless they didn't raise a finger to teach you in the earlier stages. Anything goes in this Test as long as you don't break the Traditions. At the end of the Test, you get a new Blue-blood with contacts, assets and wealth, influence, or any kind of stakes in a give location. In theory every Ventrue has some kind of influence in the city. After that the Ventrue finally let the childe out of their sights. Secondly there's the two hierarchies that the Ventrue juggle on top of the Camarilla: global leadership and the Board[Gerousia]. We'll be focusing on the Board as global leadership is another can of worms. At the top of the board are Managers[Praetors]; they make up the most powerful Blue-bloods in the city and direct the clan's local interest. More often than not the Prince is the Manager due to Ventrue making up most of their ranks. Below them are Supervisors[Aedilles] who act as extra leadership to the Manager. Then there's the Foreman[Quaestors] who are the Ventrue equivalent of Mafia Soldiers; they're acknowledged people favored by the higher-ups. Finally you have the AssociatesEiren who make up the bottom of the pile. As to what the above has to do with our Sire, well think about this: What if our Sire was a Supervisor? Perhaps he held the ambition to take over LA by himself. He had his connections in LA, maybe some wealth and prestige among the Kindred, and all he needed then are some special agents. And he possibly picked you to train.
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Nov 15, 2013 22:45
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Could be it was a childer in the middle of his test who thought he could cheat the system and Embrace someone on the side to act as a gopher, but then he underestimated how closely he was being supervised.
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Nov 15, 2013 23:48
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Bobbin Threadbare posted:Could be it was a childer in the middle of his test who thought he could cheat the system and Embrace someone on the side to act as a gopher, but then he underestimated how closely he was being supervised. Alternatively, he hosed up. And from what I understand of the setting, prompt execution is exactly what loving up leads to. Interested to see how this game goes. I've heard a lot of nasty stuff about how buggy it is.
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Nov 15, 2013 23:51
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Cythereal posted:Alternatively, he hosed up. And from what I understand of the setting, prompt execution is exactly what loving up leads to.
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Nov 15, 2013 23:58
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How in the heck did I miss this thread? Time to get caught up and see what new WoD nuggets I might come across - and to see what the difference might be since you probably had patches that I didn't. Bobbin Threadbare posted:I think it also bears mentioning that since Ravnos also had a 10 in Fortitude (this is on a scale of 1-5), he had so little to fear from the (singular) sun that he could have gotten a tan if he wanted to. I imagine the monsoon was either for the sake of his progeny or else because he still wasn't very fond of daylight. And, if you believe the book Chaining the Beast, which covers the various alternative Paths of Morality out there, Zapathasura actually won and ended up becoming Lord of the Indian Underworld. All chilling out with Set in the Deadlands. DeusExMachinima posted:Wasn't Mexico City a big Sabbat hangout in one of the sourcebooks? You'd think the hidden world wouldn't stay hidden for long with those lunatics running the asylum. Vicissitude posted:Uh, Mexico City is THE Sabbat hangout in the wWoD. The only place of more political importance was in Spain, and that tanked with the death of Cardinal Moncada at the hands of his childe, Lucita. In the book "Midnight Siege", which covers what happens when Kindred try to take over a city from another sect, it discusses some Ventrue neonate that crunched the numbers and was able to run a statistical analysis about the Sabbat - they Embraced heavily from the gang cultures for their foot soldiers, which led to lots of African Americans and Hispanics. If I recall correctly, he presented this finding to some elders and went "see! If we eliminated the causes of poverty in the area, then the Sabbat wouldn't be able to get their hands on battle-hardened recruits as easily!" The Ventrue's response to that bit of news was to nod a bit and go "Right, Sabbat have lots of not-whites in it, everyone start funding white supremacist groups!" That's also the book that has a sidebar discussing what the local Camarilla members do when it realizes it's losing a city - they pump all their resources in to reform campaigns, make sweeping anti-corruption changes (and make sure they stick), and shitcan all of their bought-and-paid-for politicians so they get replaced with honest people. Then they gently caress off for a bit and let the Sabbat slowly realize that they're going to have to sink lots of resources in to re-corrupting the place, during which the Camarilla regroup. The narrator of that section is literally shocked at how underhanded a tactic that is. Of course, the siege of New York by the Camarilla could be viewed as a jaded retelling of the Broken Windows campaign... Anyway. The writers at White Wolf were never the most subtle when it came to their writing, as some of the books they put out will attest to. An easy shorthand for whether or not a city, canonically in the WoD, is Sabbat-held is to sit there for a moment and wonder "I wonder if there's a large minority population in the city that is not primarily of European stock..." - if the answer is "Yes, it seems to have a large African American/Hispanic community", then it's Sabbat-held. citybeatnik fucked around with this message at 02:53 on Nov 16, 2013 |
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Nov 16, 2013 02:05
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Cythereal posted:Alternatively, he hosed up. And from what I understand of the setting, prompt execution is exactly what loving up leads to. In general, this is pretty much how it works, yes. Vampire: loving up leads to executions. Werewolf: loving up leads to fights to the death with a bigger and meaner werewolf (you will probably lose). Mage: loving up leads to prompt execution if you're lucky or if it was just a minor fuckup. If you make a really big fuckup (treason, become the cosmic embodiment of evil, etc), they have a thing called Gilgul which destroys your very soul. Not only does it kill you, as a person and an identity (your body remains, which they can then reprogram into a loyal servant), it kills every potential future you that will ever exist. But in the end, although their foci are superficially different the games end up dealing with mostly the same thing, IMO. Vampire was more or less a game about sociopolitical neofeudal backstabbing involving serial rapists. There was a lot of rear end in a top hat politics, and in the end there was that core bit of horror in the sense that taking blood by force is basically rape, and because you lost a blood point a day just to move around, and more to use your powers, it was very easy to get in a situation where you'd either have to take blood by force or die... and in that case, it becomes very easy to justify doing a little more. Werewolf was a game where the horror came from realizing that you were almost as evil as the Captain Planet Villains you fought, and for even less reason. Really, the story of Werewolf is basically "and all of this wouldn't have happened if Werewolves had gotten together, stopped for a bit, and thought about their actions. Except they didn't, because they're gigantic evil genocidal assholes." This was, of course, missed by a lot of people who played it as Furry Captain Planet. Mage was a game where what you thought defined reality. You were objectively right, you wanted the best for the world-and in the end... well, Hitler wanted the best for the world, didn't he? It crystallized as a tragedy of good people doing bad things for good causes because of their hubris, and eventually ending in their downfall. Really, in the end all of them are a bit about how idealism gets crushed by cynicism and the need to take the 'easy way' outweighs your moral code, and you slowly keep doing it until you become a monster like what you tried to fight. It's most explicit in Mage, but even in Vampire. Most vampires, I figure, weren't incredibly bad people in life. Just normal, regular people, maybe with some uncomfortable secrets, who got turned into monsters and tried to make the best of it. And this is what you end up getting. Also, this is why I thought Vampire needed a handful of Not Awful elders occasionally (although it might have had that). Having a few people who have managed to keep that nobility makes the fall of the rest even more horrific, because it wasn't inevitable. In the end, in the World of Darkness, it isn't grim and dark and evil because becoming a supernatural makes you Chaotic Evil. It's grim and dark and evil because the good people gave up and took the easy way out.
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Nov 16, 2013 02:55
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Well, there is certainly a continuum of hosed-up elders. Low Humanity elders might not care much about things like how many people might get hurt by their plans but they just consider things like that collateral damage and might even pay lip service to how 'regrettable' it was that things had to go that way since, while they might not give a gently caress about it, they still understand at some level that hurting people is a bad thing. Followers of Paths of Enlightenment, on the other hand, are where you really get your nasty folk because for a lot of those hurting people isn't even a concern. For some of those NOT hurting people is a morally questionable act.
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Nov 16, 2013 04:59
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MJ12 posted:Really, in the end all of them are a bit about how idealism gets crushed by cynicism and the need to take the 'easy way' outweighs your moral code, and you slowly keep doing it until you become a monster like what you tried to fight. It's most explicit in Mage, but even in Vampire. Most vampires, I figure, weren't incredibly bad people in life. Just normal, regular people, maybe with some uncomfortable secrets, who got turned into monsters and tried to make the best of it. And this is what you end up getting. Also, this is why I thought Vampire needed a handful of Not Awful elders occasionally (although it might have had that). Having a few people who have managed to keep that nobility makes the fall of the rest even more horrific, because it wasn't inevitable. Well, there's always Saulot "the only nice Antediluvian" Salubri whose clan got wiped out in the Middle Ages. He even makes an appearance in most of the Gehenna scenarios acting on the PC's side.
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Nov 16, 2013 06:17
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Bobbin Threadbare posted:Well, there's always Saulot "the only nice Antediluvian" Salubri whose clan got wiped out in the Middle Ages. He even makes an appearance in most of the Gehenna scenarios acting on the PC's side. Most of the inhumanity you find in vampire, I always felt, is that it really didn't matter if you were a nice person or not - your sire picked you out for a reason, and if you didn't live up to their expectations you were replaced. Certain clans would stress this even more - the Ventrue's agoge is basically set up to turn you in to someone who will do anything to get ahead while keeping an air of respectability.
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Nov 16, 2013 08:38
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I'm really leaning towards the blessed low-gen childe trying to do it their way too soon and getting dusted after siring the PC theory. It's the only thing that makes sense... besides the fact that it's a MacGuffin and we should just accept it because it has to happen for the game to happen without too much restrictive baggage. But then we'd be missing the point of posting in a gatz/WoD LP.MJ12 posted:Really, in the end all of them are a bit about how idealism gets crushed by cynicism and the need to take the 'easy way' outweighs your moral code, and you slowly keep doing it until you become a monster like what you tried to fight. It's most explicit in Mage, but even in Vampire. Most vampires, I figure, weren't incredibly bad people in life. Just normal, regular people, maybe with some uncomfortable secrets, who got turned into monsters and tried to make the best of it. And this is what you end up getting. Also, this is why I thought Vampire needed a handful of Not Awful elders occasionally (although it might have had that). Having a few people who have managed to keep that nobility makes the fall of the rest even more horrific, because it wasn't inevitable. Borderlands kept reminding me of Vampire and now I know why. e: spoilers for BL2 in the link DeusExMachinima fucked around with this message at 10:43 on Nov 16, 2013 |
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Nov 16, 2013 10:39
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This poster loves police brutality, but only when its against minorities!
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Vicissitude posted:Yes, the Vaulderie. Back in the Burning Times, the height of the Inquisition, the younger vampires were being left behind as cannon fodder so their elders could escape from Final Death at the hands of the Inquisitors. Since way back in the early days of vampire society, the Blood Bond was usually foisted on the young as punishment or just a matter of course to ensure obedience. When those younger vampires decided that, hey, they'd like to survive to see another night just like their elders, they had to come up with a way to break the blood bond. The ritual was pretty simple, and became the foundation of the Sabbat's loyalty to each other and their sect. The Tremere do this as well as both the clan and the Chantry. Only instead of drinking everyone's blood you just drink the Elder's blood. It's a big part of the reason the Tremere have worked so well, there's and enforcible hierarchy of blood-bonds.
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Nov 16, 2013 11:21
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Nobody really knowing the reason for your sire doing what he did makes it more amusing to me, since nobody involved even worries about it once he's caught and his fate sealed. Everyone just reflexively looks for a way to exploit it for political gain. Sharks can't stop to think about why they're swimming.
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Nov 16, 2013 14:15
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Sarkozymandias posted:Nobody really knowing the reason for your sire doing what he did makes it more amusing to me, since nobody involved even worries about it once he's caught and his fate sealed. Everyone just reflexively looks for a way to exploit it for political gain. Sharks can't stop to think about why they're swimming. Glancing through the LP of this game already in the archive does reveal what was going on with your Sire if you're a Tremere, though. S/he was an Anarch.
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Nov 16, 2013 14:58
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Well yes but we can't say that applies to every other clan and even then it isn't the whole story. The Tremere are a daisy chain of Slytherin babysitters. Their greatest sin is probably spending the night somewhere else without leaving a note.
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Nov 16, 2013 15:06
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I believe there's yet another theory on how the PC has such a good blood pool, but it's specific to this game, plus half spoilers and half way out there theorizing based on credits. I'll hold off on posting in spoiler blocks unless gatz is okay with this, but suffice to say later on we can add yet another theory to the pile on why the PC has a high blood pool.
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Nov 16, 2013 23:09
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Kacie posted:I believe there's yet another theory on how the PC has such a good blood pool, but it's specific to this game, plus half spoilers and half way out there theorizing based on credits. Go ahead, that's what spoiler tags are for. Also, expect an update later today.
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Nov 16, 2013 23:21
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Some in the thread had questions about exactly who we are, so let me be clear. We are Melissa the Ventrue. I chose the name from the thread's suggestions because it's a perfect reference to Melissa Van Helsing in BloodNet, with us being a Ventrue. I will be handling the allocation of all experience points. This is not to say that you cannot make suggestions - it just means that since I'm the one who's playing the game, I'm going to shape our character how I see fit. You can see that I'm focusing on dialogue skills - persuasion, seduction, etc. They're very useful in Bloodlines. I will listen to any suggestions you have to offer on where to spend experience when. If it's spoilery advice, please tag it.   After the ordeal in the Theater, LaCroix thought it best that we be let out the back way, into a dirty alley. Shouldn't he provide transportation to Santa Monica? A cab, maybe? Something doesn't feel right, but we have no choice but to continue forward.  Just to the left of the door, a familiar face stands leaning against the brick wall. We saw this guy in the Theater, leaning against a pillar while smoking. When he sees us here, he immediately starts a conversation with us.  Let me point out that the game's dialogue files include what appear to be stage directions. This series of lines starts with "[laughing at something no one else thinks is funny]".  Who are you? I'm Jack. What's important is, I'm offering help. You make it back from Santa Monica with your hide and we'll trade life stories, m'kay? Till then, I got about... this much time. You in or out?Jack here could just be attempting to exploit a naive, young, recently embraced Kindred that doesn't know what's what, but it is true that we could use a helping hand. For better or worse, we'll say yes. Okay. I could use the help. Alright.The stage directions were: [like the Fonz].  Sounds fishy. We'll decline (we don't get a choice anyway) I like it where I am. At least I'm out of that theatre. Christ, it's stuffy in there, huh? This is much better. Now, we ain't got much time, but I figure somebody should fill you in on the bare bones stuff at least, ya know. Could save your hide. You look wobbly; you even had a drink yet? Drink of what? Oh man, we're poppin' a cherry here! Ha ha ha! Ah, you're gonna love this! Alright, check it out. Blood: it's your new rack o' lamb, your new champagne - blood's your new fuckin' heroin, kid. Ha ha! Get ready though, cuz, hey, it's never as sweet as the first time. What do I do? Well, down around the corner there, I saw this human. Poor S.O.B. can't find his car... hehehehe. It's been one of those nights. I could use a drink. Now go for it. Be sure though - and this is important so listen up - be sure not to drain 'em dry, okay? It might be hard to resist, but don't kill 'em. Alright.Bloodlines has a little quirk where the main character has to end every conversation. Anyway, let's find this guy.  Whenever I can't find my car, I always look in dirty alleys where no car would ever be parked, as well. I imagine recently embraced Kindred might feel bad about feeding when they do it for the first time. This guy is stupid enough where I'm sure it wouldn't bother anyone. I'm joking. Press the F key to feed.   Soon enough, our blood meter fills up. You've got to stop feeding before the top blood meter (the blood meter of whomever you're feeding from) empties entirely, or else they're dead.  Then the person you fed from just stands there in a daze. I'd be pretty dazed too, I guess. Let's get back to Jack. Hopefully he hasn't left us high and dry.  You'd never see someone of the Camarilla dressed like Jack, talk like Jack, or lean against doors like Jack. Vampire habitus.  In Bloodlines, when not playing as a Malkavian, dialogue options essentially fall into these categories: sarcastic, antagonistic, and agreeable. NPCs usually shrug off any sarcastic jab you throw out, but being antagonistic or agreeable have very real consequences. I'm going to let you all decide how we act towards the main characters and the factions they represent. Great! When do I get my cape? Do I get to pick the color? Alright now, you got the blood, you're feelin' all kickass, feelin' better than your best day livin' - but wait! It gets better! All Kindred... Kindred, that's uh, our word for vampire... all Kindred have a few things in common, things that set them right square above humans on the food chain. Yeah? Like what? Like sharper senses, a body that can take a beating, and, if you play your cards right, eternal life. That's no sure bet, but still, a chance at immortality's not a bad deal. And that's just for starters; fringe benefits for joinin' the club. So I'm going to live forever? Jack is probably my favorite character in all of Bloodlines, and it's easy to see why. It's clear the writers had fun writing his lines, and they're great lines at that. Shining with personality.  Got it.  Let's do it! Just gotta open this door...  This door might be the most hardest enemy in the game. Getting the game to recognize that you're trying to open it is very difficult and requires you to press your body against it about a dozen times.  But when we do, we're faced with a predictable puzzle designed to get the player familiar with the controls: jump on these boxes to get up to the walkway.  Hey, what's that?  That's a pretty dramatic cutscene just to show off a lockpick. It has those blue squares emanating from it because of a feat called Inspection. Holy poo poo is inspection useless in Bloodlines. Hardly any items are "hidden", and of those that are, they're easily findable unless you're careless, and the only purpose they have is to sell to a vendor. Don't bother with this feat if you play the game.  At the end of the walkway, we find Jack. It seems that Jack is a few steps ahead of us.   The Sabbat got wind of the gathering here, so they figured they'd raise a little hell and put a little heat on the new  prince. What's the prince a prince of? No time for political rundown. Job one? Get outta here alive. Sabbat might be mindless, but they hit like a Mack truck, like raging savages - nothing a fledgling like you wants to mess with.Fledgling is just a term for a recently-embraced vampire. What am I supposed to do?                We turn our attention back to Melissa and Jack...  I'm on it. The door's locked, but we just happened to find a lockpick a little bit ago. Lockpicking is simple. Either you have a high enough skill in it or not. Dexterity, as well as the security skill affect what your lockpick level is.   Again, we find Jack a step ahead of us.  I had my moments. Cool. Now if you want a lesson on how really not to act, take notes from those Sabbat assholes. You're a big bad vampire... yeah, great, congrats... now keep it to yourself. You go roar and you beat your chest and... that's what you can expect. Wait! I've still got that list of people from high school! Why not? It's also why you don't go jugglin' dumpsters or outrun the 8:15 from Sacramento, and it's... and it's why you didn't know any of this when you woke up this morning. Ah. I get it.It's the masquerade, if you're incredibly dense. Keep in mind that Jack is an anarch - meaning that it's not just the Camarilla that see the benefit of having some sort of masquerade. We'll talk more about the anarchs and the problems they have with the Camarilla later. Keep our secret secret and you make things easier on all of us. We're livin' in the age of cell phone cameras... gently caress-ups ain't tolerated. Makes sense enough, right? Well, it ain't a casual thing for a fledgling like you. What do you mean? What could happen? I see. Alright now, don't worry, cuz I know the area a little - and you know what? I'm glad we're in this situation, you and I. It illustrates a point... you gotta utilize your surroundings. Okay. But what does that mean, exactly? Ya do what ya gotta do. Theft, destruction of property, breaking and entering. Heh. These'll be the least of your sins before the night's out. So look around here. We gotta get out the back there through that magnetically sealed door. There must be a key someplace. I'll find it. These tutorial messages have been popping up, and I've been declining to show them off, but this is an exception. In Masquerade areas, breaking the Masquerade can carry dire consequences, such as unwanted attention of vampire hunters. After five Masquerade violations, it's game over. A calendar on the wall shows us that it's October, and a poster on the wall features a lovely metal band called Die My Darling.  A note on the wall tells us that the password to the computer is chopshop. Something gives me the feeling that the key is in the safe below the note. The computer should allow us to unlock the safe.  >safe  The password works, and we unlock the safe.  It's a keycard.  Got it. Using our keycard, we exit out into a stairwell, which we descend and exit out into another alley.          We've taken some damage from that ambush - bashing damage, to be precise. In Bloodlines, bullets cause bashing damage to vampires and lethal damage to everyone else. That brings us to the different types of damage. Vic will explain: Vicissitude posted:There are 3 kinds that we'll deal with in this game. Bashing, Lethal, and Aggravated. You can resist the damage with a 'soak' roll, basically absorbing the damage rather than sustaining it. Base pool for soaking damage is Stamina + Fortitude (if you have it). Jack saved us from getting dusted. What's he got to say about it?  Hey hey! Look at them potholes! Those'll close up soon enough - better feed though. Health regenerates for a Vampire, and it regenerates even faster when they feed. What's the difference? Blood's blood, right? Well, when it comes to feeding, it's quality blood you're looking for, not the quantity. Bums and lowlife don't pack the same punch that a healthy, well-bred human will. Juicebags with a pedigree: that's the good stuff. But you gotta take what you can get. You ever had a Ph.D., kid? Oh, that's good stuff. If you say so. Remember what I said though, don't kill them - least not the innocent ones. You're a monster now, make no mistake - one of the damned and the fallen. You need to hold onto every last shred of Humanity you have.Listen up, y'all. Let's say I get a little overzealous... what happens then? An innocent's an innocent. You kill one, even a worthless bum, even by accident, and it's gonna cost you a piece of your own Humanity, bring you closer to that Beast you got wellin' up inside you. The "Beast"? What exactly does that mean? So I can't kill anyone? That seems a little, uh, restricting. Ah ah ah! I said innocent humans. If some rear end in a top hat levels a twelve-gauge your way, you drain him, skin him and bash in his skull. Self-preservation is a vital part of Humanity after all. My favorite part, in fact. I think I follow. The only way to fight the Beast is to keep in touch with your Humanity, and don't go hungry. It's a fine line. Got it. Alright, now go feed. Careful, though... he's gonna drain fast. Be back in a minute. Just down the alley to the right we find this poor sucker, and as Jack said, he drains really quick. As a Ventrue, we run the risk of vomiting up the blood we drain from the homeless and other lesser sources. It doesn't happen this time, though. Back to Jack.  As a Ventrue, we also cannot gain blood from feeding on rats. The reverse of this is a Nosferatu, who gains double the bloodpoints other clans (excluding Ventrue, who get none) get from feeding on rats. My clan won't live on something as dirty as rat blood! I can see why. I'm not down with rodent myself. Keep it down. Got someone around the way here. Just one guy? Not too much of a threat by himself, but you never know if there's more in shoutin' range. You're gonna have to sneak past. Sneak where? The building across from us, with the garage door? There's some double doors on the far side. I'll meet you inside. Just stay low and stick to the shadows. And don't let him see you. I'll do my best. See you in a minute. Alright, go. Gone. Sneaking is a combination of Dexterity and Stealth. That meter on the left indicates the proximity of any enemies and their chances of detecting us if they are looking our way. Green means we are completely safe, yellow means we might be seen, and red means they will see you if they look in your direction. An enemies chance of detecting us is directly tied to our Sneaking feat. If we are detected, our enemies will often say as much and come to investigate.  We go around the car to avoid the Sabbat.  Something draws the Sabbat towards the warehouse, but a giant explosion sends him running back. Now that the way is clear, we can get it. What exploded, and why it didn't trigger any other explosions is a mystery. Inside the warehouse, we find Jack.  That's pretty green. The Sabbat, you see, they don't have the most rigorous training program. In fact, that poor sod is lucky if he knows he's a vampire. How can that be? Ah, he was probably just turned and beaten over the head. They like to do that... make shock troops, cannon fodder. Put him out of his misery.citybeatnick had an interesting post related to this: citybeatnik posted:In the book "Midnight Siege", which covers what happens when Kindred try to take over a city from another sect, it discusses some Ventrue neonate that crunched the numbers and was able to run a statistical analysis about the Sabbat - they Embraced heavily from the gang cultures for their foot soldiers, which led to lots of African Americans and Hispanics. If I recall correctly, he presented this finding to some elders and went "see! If we eliminated the causes of poverty in the area, then the Sabbat wouldn't be able to get their hands on battle-hardened recruits as easily!" It's not easy to tell what race these Sabaat footsoldiers are, but that doesn't change the fact that this is the combat section of the tutorial, and we've got to go dust him. I'll do my best He is a vampire, so be ready. I was born ready. Go get 'im I'm on it. At this point in the game, we don't have a real weapon, so we've just got to use our fists. The Unarmed Combat feat is a combination of Strength and Brawl. It directly affects our success in unarmed combat. There are different attacks depending on which direction we are moving when we initiate our attack. We can also block our enemies attacks by pressing and holding the Attack Mode key (default TAB).  In most cases where there are heavy sections of combat, you can rely on your sneak skill to get around everything. Sometimes there can be options to talk your way out of fighting. The success in whichever route you choose depends on where you spent your experience.  After dusting that guy, we take his tire iron and head back to Jack.  Sounds like a good strategy. Alright, head down into the basement, through the grate in there. Keep that tire iron handy. I'll be there in a minute. Down the passage, we run into a cop, of all people.  This guy gets added into the game when you install the plus patch. His sole purpose is to show off the different types of dialogue skills that can be used. Red indicates a Domination response, which requires blood to use. Blue indicates a Persuasion response, Pink indicates a Seduction response, and Green indicates an Intimidation Response. We'll go with Seduction. Why? Because "[m]en are always willing to believe two things about a woman: one, that she is weak, and two, that she finds him attractive." [Seduction] Most men don't fear me until it's far too late. Wow - smart and sexy.... Th-thank you? Look lady, I don't know what you want but I'm not about to take a bullet for this job. Just show me the way out. At this point we get a choice which serves as an example of the choices I'm going to have the thread make. This is essentially a decision of low vs high humanity. Either we send him ahead, into the dangerous unknown, or have him stay back, where it's safe. To demonstrate the consequences of our actions, I'm going with the low humanity option. Go ahead. That's a pretty casual strut. Almost like he doesn't even see the Sabbat up ahead.   Choices have consequences. Every shred of humanity we lose brings us closer to the beast.  This is the part of the tutorial that shows off stealth kills. They're one hit kills that look different depending on which melee weapon you have equipped (or if you're unarmed).  Soon after killing that vampire, Jack runs in.  The more, the merrier.Let's continue on.  This is the section of the tutorial that has the player use their Disciplines. All vampires have an ability called Bloodbuff. It gives the user a temporary bonus to all of their physical attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Stamina). It's useful in a variety of situations, like picking a lock, that would otherwise be too difficult. The door up ahead is too difficult for us to pick, so we've got to use bloodbuff to temporarily boost our lockpicking skill.  As a Ventrue, we have three disciplines: Dominate, Fortitude, and Presence.  Fortitude just gives bonuses to soak rolls. Again, Jack catches up with us after killing this vampire.  That circle-effect is what Fortitude does in first person. Jack thought the best way to speak to us is with machinery blocking our view. I'll meet you over there. Meet ya there. Don't let 'em catch ya. No problem. Our next discipline is Presence.  It's essential fuction is to stun and debuff enemies close to us.  We also have Dominate, which has individual powers at each level. Level two is Brainwipe, which mesmerises enemies close to us until we attack them. Moving on...  When sneaking, we can distract enemies walking routes by throwing items around.  Throwing one of those empty sardine packets(?) let's us get through the door that Sabbat was guarding.  Did you expect to find anyone else behind it?  So what do we do? Ah, they probably seen too much. Here... take this thirty-eight. Fuckin' peashooter, but a few shots and it'll take down a human. Thanks. Jack speaks the truth. For the most part, you're wasting your time if you use ranged weapons. Even against humans. Useless against vampires? Well, yeah, some are more lethal than others, of course. Watch out for those shotguns - ouch - those things can smart, I tell ya. I hear you. Okay.We've been given our first ranged weapon. Ranged combat, a combination of Perception and Firearms, is a feat that affects (predictably) how well you shoot a gun. When you equip a gun, you will see the ranged combat cursor. It's spread and the speed at which it focuses is a direct result of the value of your Ranged Combat feat.  Let's try it out. Up we go.  I really don't liked ranged weapons in Bloodlines. You always have to wait 2-3 seconds for the reticle to focus and ensure that you get the perfect shot. Even then, melee weapons do just as much (or more, in some cases) damage, and you don't have to worry about ammunition or being backed into a corner when facing someone not using firearms.  Just gently caress this. Firearms are so lovely. If someone wants to prove me wrong, I welcome you to show me.  After dispatching with those two gangsters, Jack appears by the elevator.  Until the next night, when the Camarilla finds some way to strike back. Parry, dodge, spin 'n all that. And so on, and so on, and so on... So this is normal? Well, to be honest, you came at a, well, an interesting time, let's say. The Camarilla, the Sabbat... well, in LA these are the new kids on the block. There's already plenty o' Kindred had stakes down in California long before them. Hmmm.... Sure, and here's your gun. * * * We've met my favorite character in this update.  Jack is voiced by John DiMaggio Listen:  Born the year 1611, Jack grew up to be a pirate operating in the Caribbean, and although he would encourage others to believe he was captain, he could never actually rise above the level of second mate. This was because his violent nature and wild temper caused other pirates to distrust him. However, they did admire him for his strength and loyalty to his shipmates. Jack lived a long time for a pirate and at the age of 40, he retired to Barbados. He had amassed quite a fortune from piracy, and bought himself a pardon. Jack had trouble settling down and ended up on the run from the law after beating up a pompous aristocrat who was rude to him. Jack was found by his sire, a Brujah woman known as Mama Lion, who had been fighting Ventrue expansion in the Caribbean. When Mama Lion offered Jack an eternity of battle against oppression, Jack readily accepted. Jack has been a proud Brujah and a sworn enemy of the Ventrue ever since. Jack played a part in the Anarch Revolt in Los Angeles against the former Toreador prince, Don Sebastian. Since his days as a pirate, Jack has adopted a biker style and is immensely popular among young anarchs who adore his bold style. He is a master of the celerity and potence disciplines and knows many other tricks. He is an extraordinarily powerful vampire, who disposed of two Sabbat vampires with relative ease. Despite his appearance Jack is not easily provoked in open battle, but his mischievous and under-handed tactics and tricks have made him legendary amongst the younger anarchs. * * * Next time, we enter Santa Monica. gatz fucked around with this message at 10:37 on Feb 17, 2014 |
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Nov 17, 2013 00:43
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As awesome Jack's character is, it'd be untrue and a disservice to the other Anarchs to say he solely led the uprising in LA. Others would say that Salvador Garcia, or Jeremy MacNeil were the masterminds of the Revolt, killed off LaCroix' predecessor, Don Sebastian Juan Dominguez, and established the manifestos for future Anarch Revolts. Curious though that we don't see either Garcia or MacNeil in the intro though.
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Nov 17, 2013 01:01
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AnAnonymousIdiot posted:As awesome Jack's character is, it'd be untrue and a disservice to the other Anarchs to say he solely led the uprising in LA. Others would say that Salvador Garcia, or Jeremy MacNeil were the masterminds of the Revolt, killed off LaCroix' predecessor, Don Sebastian Juan Dominguez, and established the manifestos for future Anarch Revolts. I didn't say that he solely led the revolt, but your point is valid enough that it made me rephrase the statement in order to prevent confusion.
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Nov 17, 2013 01:06
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