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 Gehenna. Long was it whispered on the lips and in the torpid dreams of the undead - a dread promise of their own grandsires awakening to feast upon their descendants. For ages, even as the Kindred races warred amongst themselves and manipulated each other in the Jyhad, they feared the eventuality of the awakening of the 12 Antedeluvians of old - and prophecy spoke that the time would come that the red star would shine in the sky, and herald the death of the Vampires. And, as the year 2000 approached, the signs pointed towards the millenium bringing Gehenna with it, and the war between the Camarilla and the Sabbat, the two great sects of the Kindred, reached a fevered pitch. Then the millenium came. And it went. And nothing happened. No red star. No Antedeluvians, no Time of Thin Blood, No Week of Nightmares, No Gehenna. And the world of the undead paused, in anticipation. Fourteen years have passed. The signs of Gehenna, what little there were, and the timeline of the prophecy they promised, have faded. Many among the Sabbat, the supposed Sword of Caine, for want of a great, apocalyptic battle to fight, broke the bonds of Vaulderie and left, many for the Camarilla. The swell of young vampires allowed the Anarch Crusade to recruit, and, in the chaos, split formally from the Ivory Tower and avoid the floundering Sabbat. Many Covenants, small groups out for themselves or tied to one Sect or the other, have become more open in membership. And Clans that once considered themselves stalwartly members of one sect, or out for their own interests, have cast unnecessary allegiances to the wayside. The Jyhad has all but fallen silent. It is the perfect time for a group of young Kindred to carve a name for themselves in their own Requiems - but the Danse Macabre remains as deadly as ever, and a society of monsters without an endgoal is undergoing a dangerous revolution that threatens to spiral completely out of control. And even now, dark and terrible things still lurk in the darkness, waiting to be discovered. ------------ So welcome to the World of Darkness, where you’ll be playing a young vampire in post-Gehenna Upstate New York (at least to start), trying to navigate a Requiem in a world in upheaval. I’ll be your host this evening. A quick Q&A about the setting though, because it requires explanation. Q: So what rules set is this? Masquerade? Requiem? 20th Anniversary? God Machine? A: It’s Requiem with the Strix Chronicle/God Machine stuff, with some rules tinkering. Oh, and with the Masquerade setting wedged into it to make it fit. Q: Wait, so are there 13 clans or 5? How many sects are there? Why did you mention Sects and Covenants? A: There’s 12 Clans, 3 Sects, and 9 Covenants, in the post below this one I’ll have a more in-depths analysis of what each clan does and what they can do. Q: Hey can I play X Bloodline from Y Book with Z Discipline? A: For the purposes of this Chronicle, I am avoiding Bloodlines, so no. Q: What do I need to do to make a character? A: For the most part, you’ll follow the standard rules as outlined in either Vampire: the Requiem or more accurately in Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle. Only differences is I want to stick to the standard 7 virtue/vice structure from vanilla Requiem for my own sanity. Post the character using sheetgen or mythmakers or what have you, or just in the thread. I would recommend leaving an Aspiration or two blank so they can relate to fellow coterie-mates, and answer the questions listed in Blood and Smoke under Climbing the Ladder on page 282. Please also let me know what personal preference for Sect you have (between Anarch, Camarilla, and Sabbat - I’ll go over the mechanical differences in the second post). The most votes for a specific Sect between chosen apps will decide where you guys all start out, but don’t feel pressured to vote with the herd or that you won’t get picked if you vote for a different Sect than the majority - I’ll be selecting characters based on concept, not on Sect choice. You may also want to have access to various other books, depending on what you want to play - ask me what’s up and I’ll be able to provide it to you. Off the top of the head, for mechanics (that I’m not going to list here), you’ll want Ancient Bloodlines, the Lords of the Damned, Bloodlines: the Hidden, and the Vampire Translation Guide. Other Stuffs I’m findable on IRC for questions when I’m not at work, in #verumaeternus. I do have PMs too, so feel free to ask questions there, or in the thread here, and they’ll get answered. Because I forgot to mention it earlier, this will be a PbP. I’m thinking two weeks for recruitment given the relative complexity of what I’m doing here, so a tentative recruitment closing date of June 2nd, though that may be shortened or lengthened depending on interest. I am also going to crib Beats based on recent nWoD games - they’ll work as in the book, with the additions/changes of beats for posts detailing excellent RPing, meaningful interactions, and significant acts of character development. Instead of a free beat at the end of a session, you get one for consistent posting throughout each week. Also, your thoughts on the Group Beats rule: (everyone's beats go into single pot, which get distributed after some significant downtime), to encourage the group to help each other realize each other Aspirations and otherwise work together (even in an OOC sense) to get Beats. And of course, if there’s something I didn’t cover, just ask and I’ll see what I can do. Oh lord, I put a whole lot of information in too many posts. Mea culpa, lots of information to re-present. Apps Submitted/Status Josef bugman: Alistair Erikson Soonmot: Ricky Fry Bouquet: Loren Ainslie Chancellor Valhawk: Leo Jansen Zephonith: Amber Holloway TehWarsmith: Alicia Bedford Roland Jones: Roshan Epicurius: Bob Scott SECT VOTES Anarch: 1 Camarilla: 4 Sabbat: 0 LifeGetsWorser fucked around with this message at 05:07 on Jun 2, 2014 |
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Mechanical/Settings Changes The Clans The twelve clans listed are a combination of clans from Masquerade and Requiem, or sometimes both. Certain clans that existed in Masquerade are replaced by clans that might've been considered "precursor" bloodlines, and a couple of them have been removed wholesale. For the most part, to find the things you're looking for, if they're not here, check Covenants. In addition, Auspex is the purview of the Mekhet clan, and is not a common discipline. Clans in Verum Aeternus each have a proprietary Discipline that other Clans do not have easy access to. As such, a few Disciplines (primarily amongst the oWoD Clans) needed adjustment. You will find the adjusted Disciplines below. One of the new "Common" Disciplines is Praestantia, which was originally listed in the Vampire: the Requiem supplement VII. This has been updated to be more in line with the Strix Chronicle Rules. Clans in Verum Aeternus always suffer from their clan weakness, regardless of their level of Humanity. Assamite (Favored Attributes: Dexterity/Wits) (Celerity, Obfuscate, Quietus) Assamites are more susceptible to blood addiction. In Requiem terms, Assamites do not receive the +1 bonus to resist drinking Vitae even if they do successfully deny it once (see p. 158 of Vampire: The Requiem for systems for Blood Addiction). In addition, Assamites start play with a mild blood addiction, and therefore suffer a –1 to the Resolve + Composure roll to avoid drinking Kindred blood when given the chance. While it is possible for an Assamite to score the exceptional success necessary to avoid blood addiction, it isn’t likely, and falling into torpor becomes his only real recourse. That assumes, of course, that the Assamite wants to lose the addiction, rather than reveling in it. Cappadocian (Favored Attributes: Resolve/Strength) (Mortis, Praestantia,Vigor) Owing to their pre-occupation and experimentation with death and decay, the immortality of the Cappadocian clan is imperfect. As they age and their Blood strengthens, so too does it rot their physical forms. No Cappadocian can ever spend a Vitae to mimic the signs of life (see “Counterfeiting Life”, page 156 of Vampire: the Requiem). Additionally, a Cappadocian Kindred receives a penalty on all social interactions equal to their Blood Potency rating. This manifests as literal decay and rot, making elder and more potent Cappadocians absolutely ghastly to be around, and encouraging many elders to sleep away their power in torpor in exchange for a reprieve from their putrefaction. This weakness can reduce a Cappadocian’s dice pool to a minimum of their Stamina. Daeva (Favored Attributes: Dexterity/Manipulation) (Celerity, Majesty, Vigor) Perhaps out of some deep longing for the true passions they lost after the Embrace, the Daeva have difficulty steeling themselves against the hedonism they allow themselves as members of the Damned. Any time a Daeva has an opportunity to indulge her Vice but does not do so, she loses two points of Willpower (as opposed to gaining one by partaking in its pleasures). This weakness only pertains to the Kindred’s actual Vice, any similar opportunities for Willpower granted to the character from their Path or other sources are not affected. Gangrel (Favored Attributes: Composure/Stamina) (Animalism, Protean, Resilience) As befits their sobriquet, the Gangrel are more closely tied to their Beasts than are other Kindred. The more they feel the call of the Beast, the more bestial they become, and the more their minds become those of less principled animals. With regard to dice pools based on Intelligence and Wits Attributes, the 10-again rule does not apply. Additionally, any 1’s that come up on a roll subtract from successes. (The latter part of the weakness does not affect dramatic-failure rules.) This weakness does not apply to dice pools involving perception or reaction to surprise (see p. 151 of the World of Darkness Rulebook), or to the Resolve Attribute. Lasombra (Favored Attributes: Composure/Wits) (Celerity, Obtenebration, Vigor) Lasombra cannot cast reflections, even the blurry ones that most Kindred do (see p. 169 of Vampire: The Requiem), and cannot alter this condition with Willpower. As creatures of inherent wickedness (some would claim that they are soulless), the Lasombra have a more difficult time maintaining their Humanity in the face of their damnation. Any time a Lasombra must make a Breaking Point test to avoid losing Humanity, they take a -1 penalty on the dice roll, subject to other modifiers. Malkavian (Favored Attributes: Manipulation/Intelligence) (Dementation, Obfuscate, Praestantia) All Malkavians have a severe derangement (of the player’s choice) that they cannot overcome, as it is a facet of their existence. The Malkavian cannot spend Willpower in opposition to behavioral patterns that are triggered by their derangement. At the storyteller's option, the Malkavian may begin with a fitting condition (such as Delusional or Madness) in lieu of an actual derangement. That Condition may never be Resolved and the Malkavian will gain no Beats from their Condition. Mekhet (Favored Attributes: Intelligence/Wits) (Auspex, Celerity, Obfuscate) As creatures of darkness even more sensitive to light than most of the Damned, the Mekhet suffer certain banes of vampiric existence more acutely than do their fellow Kindred. Whenever Mekhet suffer damage from sunlight or fire, they take an additional point of aggravated damage from that source (see p. 172 for more on sunlight and fire damage). They are also sensitive to light, and subtract one from all dice pools while in bright light (spot lights, strobes, etc.). Nosferatu (Favored Attributes: Composure/Strength) (Nightmare, Obfuscate, Vigor) All Nosferatu are repulsive or at the very least uncomfortable to be around. The cause need not be a physical deformity. A palpable aura of menace, a charnel odor or the undeniable manner of a predator is just as compelling as a twisted body. With regard to dice pools based on Presence or Manipulation Attributes in social situations, the 10-again rule does not apply. Additionally, any 1’s that come up on a roll are subtracted from successes. (This latter part of the weakness does not affect dramatic failure rules.) This weakness does not apply to dice pools that involve the Intimidation Skill, or to the Composure Attribute. Ravnos (Favored Attributes: Manipulation/Dexterity) (Animalism, Chimerstry, Resilience) The Ravnos weakness compels them to indulge in some form of trickery or deceit. Whenever the opportunity arises to do so, the player must roll Resolve + Composure –1 for every night in which the character has not indulged or else succumb to the temptation. Salubri (Favored Attributes: Presence/Stamina) (Praestantia, Resilience, Valeren) As creatures of noble bearing, the Salubri cannot refuse to aid someone in genuine need without paying a stiff price. If she does refuse or is rendered unable of assisting the person in need, the Salubri’s player loses two dice from all pools to reflect how badly the character has been shaken by their moral failing. This penalty persists until the character somehow makes restitutions for her error, or until the end of the night. Please note that this weakness requires the Salubri to make an effort to help based on their own judgement, and not necessarily to obey the mandates of the one requiring need. Tzimisce (Favored Attributes: Resolve/Stamina) (Animalism, Praestantia, Vicissitude) Tzimisce are refined, inhuman creatures of the old world, but centuries of experimentation has left their lineage slightly unstable. At character creation, a Tzimisce's player must choose one Bane (see page 108 of Blood and Smoke) for the character to suffer from, in addition to the three they may gain over the course of gameplay. Unlike those Banes, the bane the Tzimisce begins with offers the vampire no protection from Breaking Points (nor does it cause the -1 penalty to detachment rolls). Ventrue (Favored Attributes: Presence/Resolve) (Animalism, Dominate, Resilience) The Ventrue are confident. Why wouldn’t they be? They’re clearly superior. This attitude frequently causes Lords conflict, as they treat all those around them as objects. When creating a Ventrue, apply his first Touchstone to his seventh dot of Humanity. This means his first Humanity loss will also detach that Touchstone as the bane takes effect. Further Touchstones may fill his sixth through second dots. Sects The Sects in Verum Aeternus are the major political-societal entities in the vampiric world. They are generally opposed to one another and constantly vying for dominance in various locations. You need to have at least 1 level of the merit Status (the sect in question) to qualify for the mechanical benefits of the Sect. The Anarch Crusade: The Anarch Crusade is, as always, the bastion of young vampires who chafe at the rule structure of the Camarilla as much as they chafe at the inhumanity of the Sabbat but who understand the importance of community (the importance is not getting your face caved in by elders). Since the Time of Thin Blood and the Final Nights seem to have passed, and more new Kindred are being created as a result, the membership of the Anarchs seems to have swelled. Of course, since the Anarchs have never really been good at internal security, any number of vampires with Anarch Status may actually be agents for another Sect. The Anarchs have pulled away from the Camarilla to a sufficient extent as to be considered a separate Sect entirely - more of a Crusade than a Movement at this point, though they are by far the least of them in power if not in numbers. (An Anarch Vampire's Blood Potency counts as 1 less for the purposes of determining what types of Blood they can feed on. For example, an Anarch with Blood Potency 3 may feed on animals, humans, and vampires. A vampire of another sect with Blood Potency 3 may not feed on animals.) The Camarilla: The Camarilla is experiencing a boom in membership, since the Sabbat’s main recruiting thrust was that the Ivory Tower was the plaything of the elders. Since Gehenna never happened as prophesied, many who decided that the Sword of Caine was full of it and not for them have joined with the Camarilla. The Camarilla has tried to be diligent in screening new members, but since their previous policy was inclusionist to the point of claiming all Vampires were already part of the Camarilla, that has lead to them needing to screen people mostly after they’ve already “joined”, so some double-agents do persist. (Camarilla vampires can purchase the Herd and Contacts merits at half cost. Camarilla vampires can spend a permanent willpower dot to permanently affix their image to a specific recorded medium, such as a photograph or security camera, and such preserved images do not display the general blurriness). The Sabbat: The Sabbat suffered when Gehenna didn’t happen, and a good number of the Sect have left for less inhuman ports. Many outside the sect and a few inside posit that the only Final Nights occurring at this point are those of the Sword of Caine, but there are still enough to be a thorn in the side of the Camarilla, who are now dealing as well with lobbying from Covenants who previously kept their philosophies to the Sword as well as the Anarch’s recent breakaway from the Camarilla proper. Those within the Sabbat are clearly concerned with recent developments, but hardliners and opportunists both refuse to let go and seek to strengthen the Sect and themselves. Others simply remember that older vampires don’t think in years or decades but in centuries and millennia, and aren’t so sure that Gehenna isn’t still going to happen. (The Sabbat can choose from the following Paths of Enlightenment: Path of the Beast, Path of Caine, Path of Cathari, Path of Death and the Soul, Path of Honorable Accord, Path of Night, Path of Orion, Path of Power and the Inner Voice, and may learn Sabbat Ritae) LifeGetsWorser fucked around with this message at 17:51 on Jun 1, 2014 |
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May 19, 2014 22:12
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Covenants Some of the Covenants were Clans in the Old World of Darkness. I felt that they better fit the structure of a Covenant in Verum Aeternus than that of a Clan. Covenants are large groups of Kindred, less influential and powerful than Sects but far more numerous than a simple coterie. Covenants exist on an international level, though some have little to no presence in specific regions. Covenants may exist for political, spiritual, or martial reasons, or a combination of those. The Covenants known to be active(and their mechanical benefits) are as follows: The Black Hand - The Black Hand was once a secretive necromantic cult, and, more recently, the secret police of the Sabbat. While the vast bulk of the Covenant remains in that role, an appreciable number have begun to branch out, and recruit, outside of the Sword. Regardless of their affiliation, all members of the Black Hand can learn Kindred Vodoun (as detailed in Ancient Bloodlines). The Carthian Movement - It was a Premier of the Carthian Movment that spearheaded would would become known as the modern Anarch Crusade. However, the movement is nothing if not fluid and has kept it’s influence in the Camarilla and spread it more recently to the Sabbat as well. Members of the Carthian Movement can purchase Carthian Laws The Circle of the Crone - An ancient series of cults in reverence to various mother-progenitors, the Circle has perhaps the greatest organized existence in the Cult of Lilith, or Bahari, in the Sabbat. Regardless, Crones can pop up anywhere, and are prone towards a tenacious adaptability wherever they go. Members of the Circle of the Crone can learn Cruac. The Followers of Set - Originally, the Followers of Set were a fanatical cult of Mekhet based upon worship of the Mekhet Antedeluvian of the same name. They have remained much the same in recent nights, though a number of non-Mekhet kindred have made the group less exclusive. Setites can be taught the prayers of Akhu. The Giovanni Family - A traitorous, lecherous, splinter cell of Cappadocians, the Giovanni family nearly succeeded in eradicating those of the Clan who would not swear to the family. With the resurgence of the Cappadocian clan proper, the Giovanni have allowed some from outside the blood to “marry in”, increasing their numbers and diversifying an already potent, if maligned, Covenant. Members of the Giovanni family know of the ways of Necromancy. House Tremere - At the height of the dark ages, the mortal mage Tremere succeeded in being embraced to a Salubri sire - he then set about hunting down and diablerizing Salout, the founder of the line. With experimentation upon Gangrel, Nosferatu, and Tzimisce victims, he was able to unearth the Covenant's proprietary Thaumaturgy blood magic, and as part of joining the nascent Camarilla, succeeded in enslaving a number of Assamites. To this day, most Salubri members of the Camarilla are members of House Tremere, whether they wish to be or not. The Invictus - The Invictus brags that it has been the guiding hand of the Camarilla since before the birth of the Sect, and also that it will outlive the Ivory Tower by eons. Never one to let potential power pass them by, the Invictus exist in every Sect, angling to seize total control whenever possible. Members of the Invictus can learn Invictus Oaths. The Lancea et Sanctum - In light of recent events, most Covenants have sought, and found, membership in every Sect. The Lance is different - for they have always been in every Sect. All vampires should know the testament of Longinus, and so there must be the Lance in every corner. Members of the Lancea et Sanctum can learn Theban Sorcery. The Ordo Dracul - Purportedly founded by the legendary Tzimisce Vlades Tepes, this Covenant’s methods of strengthening oneself to avoid weakness has gained traction with Kindred of all lines and affiliations over the years. While the Ordo as a whole has maintained it’s staunch neutrality for nearly the entirety of it’s existence, various members have found themselves in all sorts of situations that make that...difficult. The Defiant of the Ordo Dracul may develop Coils and Scales of the Dragon. Disciplines and Blood Magic Praestantia To be undead is to be beyond the physical limitations of the human body. Kindred who master the Disciplines of Celerity, Vigor, and Resilience often do so by forgetting the barriers under which they labored while living. But there is another, subtler element of physical accomplishment, another path a Kindred may master. The Greeks might call it epidexiotitia; a modern neurologist would call it “kinesthetic sense.” It is an instinctive ability to comprehend and calculate the position of one’s body in relation to other nearby objects. Someone with poor kinesthetic sense is not going to be able to hit a fastball, no matter how strong or how swift he is. Someone with excellent kinesthetic sense can make a casual three-point swish. The Discipline called Praestantia is an inhuman amplification of that instinctive feeling for distance, location, and movement. Not only are Kindred who know Praestantia able to perceive bodies in space with superhuman acuity, they also are able to control their own movements with equivalent control. Praestantia doesn’t help a vampire shrug off bullets, outrun motorcycles, or flip over dumpsters, but it does allow her an endless series of “lucky shots” and “near misses”. Cost: None or 1 Vitae per action Dice Pool: Praestantia is unlike many other Disciplines in that it is not actively rolled. Rather, it provides a group of benefits, many of which affect other rolls. Action: None (for persistent effects) or Reflexive (for active effects) Duration: Permanent (for persistent effects) or one turn (for active effects) Like other physical Disciplines, Praestantia has two kinds of effects: persistent and active. Persistent effects are always on, and have no cost. Active effects are reflexive and cost one Vitae per effect. Persistent: A character's dots in Praestantia are added to any Dexterity-based rolls made with the following Skills: Athletics, Brawl, Firearms, Stealth, and Weaponry. Note that Strength-based rolls with those skills are not enhanced. Secondly, a character using Praestantia can choose to abort any failed action involving the Praestantia Skills, even if the dice pool was based on Strength. This means that, after rolling, the player can choose to do nothing that turn, rather than deal with the consequences of a failed (or dramatically failed) roll. This is a benefit of the Beast’s insight, as it’s senses are as enhanced as the character’s. For example, if a Kindred is using Praestantia to jump a chasm between two tall buildings, the player can roll and see if he makes it. If he succeeds, fine. If he fails, he can abort, halt at the edge, and take no action. Similarly, if the character is going to throw a hatchet at someone, the player can roll, see the failure and choose to keep hold of the weapon rather than throw it, miss, and lose the hatchet. Active: • When a character with this Discipline active takes the Dodge action (as described on p. 156 of the World of Darkness Rulebook) his Praestantia is added to his Defense score in addition to any other Defense improvements. However, this doesn’t offer any bonus to threats that disregard Defense, such as firearms attacks. • A character with active Praestantia may focus their inhuman insight into more tangible effects, providing active defenses against attempts to confuse or confound their senses. A character with active Praestantia may add her rating in the Discipline to attempts to defend against Chimerstry, Obfuscate, or similar Disciplines. Active (not passive) Praestantia will serve as a trigger to roll defense versus these effects. Old World Blood Magic: This all tends to work basically the same: Akhu, Necromancy, and Thaumaturgy are a series of paths with associated rituals. When a character learns their first level of Path magic, they gain the first level of their primary path (Serpentis for Akhu, Sepulchre for Necromancy, and Blood for Thaumaturgy). Raising this Path costs 4 experience points. The character can learn other Paths, but secondary Paths can never exceed the primary Path’s rating. Secondary Paths cost 3 to raise. The system to use any Path power is as follows: Cost: 1 Vitae Dice Pool: Presence + Intelligence + Akhu or Wits + Composure + Necromancy or Resolve + Occult + Thaumaturgy (rating in primary Path) – level of power being attempted Action: Instant Roll Results: Dramatic Failure: The character loses a dot of Willpower as the magic takes a toll on her mind. Failure: The effect does not happen, and the Vitae point is still spent. Success: The effect happens as described in the text. Exceptional Success: Extra successes are usually their own reward. In some cases, an exceptional success indicates an increased duration or effect as appropriate. Obviously, this denotes that Serpentis has been folded in to become the primary path of Serpentis. Rituals: Rituals in path magic work much like the rites of Cruac or Theban Sorcery. The vampire must have the correct Discipline at the correct level to learn a Ritual of that level and cost 4 experience to raise. Cost: 1 Willpower Dice Pool: Presence + Persuasion + Akhu or Wits + Occult + Necromancy or Resolve + Intelligence + Thaumaturgy (rating in primary Path) Action: Extended. The number of successes required to activate a ritual is equal to the level of the ritual (so a level-three ritual requires three successes to enact). Each roll represents one turn of ritual casting. Note also that each point of damage suffered in a turn is a penalty to the next casting roll made for the character. If a character fails to complete the ritual in time (such as by being sent into torpor before accumulating enough successes) or decides to cancel the ritual before garnering enough successes to activate, the effect simply fails. Roll Results: Dramatic Failure: The ritual fails in some spectacular fashion. A ritual intended to damage a subject inflicts its damage upon the caster, for example, while a ritual designed to store Vitae in an object depletes the caster of some amount of his own. Failure: No successes are added to the total. Success:The ritual takes place as described. Exceptional Success: The ritual takes place as described. In many cases, extra successes are their own reward, causing additional damage or conferring extra duration or capacity. Disciplines should otherwise be considered to be at their most recent Requiem printing when available (ie - Strix Chronicle for most things.) Dementation and Obtenebration have versions in Requiem books (Lords of the Damned and Bloodlines: the Hidden, respectively), and the rest can be found in the translation guide. Mortis and Valaren had to be converted wholesale, which I've done but I don't have a lot of room, so ask me about those if you want to play a Cappadocian or a Salubri. LifeGetsWorser fucked around with this message at 03:43 on May 20, 2014 |
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Reserved for Requests! Requests: New Merit: Path of Enlightenment (• to •••••) This Merit is only available to Vampires. For each dot in this Merit, the Kindred receives a bonus on Breaking Point rolls when acting in accordance with their Path (Path structures are listed below). The roll is equal to half the rating in the Merit, rounded up (so +1 at • and ••, +2 at ••• and ••••, and +3 at •••••). Furthermore, at rating ••• and up, the Ethics of your Path are treated as an additional Vice for the purpose of regaining Willpower. At Path •••••, the Ethics of the Path are also treated as an additional Virtue for the purposes of regaining Willpower. However, adopting such an inhuman mindset is not without cost. For each dot in this Merit, your maximum Humanity is reduced by 1 (this coexists with, rather than stacks with, Cruac, so that only the highest rating applies. For instance, a Vampire with Path of Lilith ••• and Cruac ••• has a maximum humanity of ••••• ••, not ••••). Enlightenment is dangerous, as a Vampire still takes all penalties for losing Humanity, though they may always add their Path rating as a bonus to any tests required. As it would take way too much room, suffice to say that any path of Enlightenment is ok so long as you've a reason to have it - but truncate the hierarchy of sins to 5 levels (ie, level 1 and 2 makes level 1 of the merit, 3 and 4 makes level 2, and so on). Mortis This Discipline was developed by the Cappadocians in an attempt to uncover the secrets of death. It seeks to explore many aspects of death, from outright cheating it, to causing it with a single touch. Rumor has it that masters of Mortis are able to defy death itself. Practitioners of Mortis are often consumed with all aspects of death and the afterlife. •Masque of Death This power allows the vampire or chosen subject to assume a visage of death. Flesh becomes taut and sallow, and joints grow rigid and stiff. Assuming the appearance of a corpse can be quite useful - if a hunter searches a mortuary for a vampire, he would be likely to ignore one under the effects of this power. The Discipline may also be used as a dreadful curse, causing another to appear as the walking dead. Cost: 1 Vitae Dice Pool: None (or Stamina + Medicine + Mortis - the victim’s Stamina if used on another). Action: Instant. The character must touch their subject in order to use this power on them. Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The power fails and the vampire cannot attempt to use this power on the subject until the following sunset. The Vitae the vampire spent to power the Discipline is wasted. Failure: The vampire fails to cloak the subject under an auspice of death, and the Vitae spent is wasted. The user may attempt the power again the following round by spending another Vitae. Success: The Masque of Death is assumed, and lasts for the remainder of the scene. Characters under the influence of this power assume a pale, sallow, corpse-like appearance and lose the 10-again rule in regards to Social dice pools, and any 1s that come up subtract from successes. Vampires under this power’s effects also lose the ability to spend a Vitae to mimic the signs of life (see “Counterfeiting Life”, page 156 of Vampire: the Requiem). A vampire under the effects of this power may recover from this power as if he was healing from lethal damage. Exceptional Success: The power lasts for the remainder of the night. Suggested Modifiers Modifier Situation — The power is used on another Kindred. -1 The power is used on a Ghoul. -2 The power is used on a mortal. -4 The power is used on another supernatural creature. +1 to +5 The subject of the power is suffering from injury. Each missing health level is an additional +1 to the dice roll. ••Blight This power allows the character to cause rapid aging in an opponent. The victim begins to suffer the effects of old age; skin becomes pallid and thin, bones become brittle, and the victim may even begin to experience advanced effects of arthritis or other ailments of the elderly. Cost: 1 Willpower point, 1 Vitae. Dice Pool: Manipulation + Medicine + Mortis - the victim’s Stamina. The character must touch their subject in order to use this power on them. Action: Instant Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The vampire using the power experiences a backlash of necrotic energy and suffers the ill effects of this power instead of their intended victim, losing the 10-again rule on all Physical Attributes for the remainder of the night. Failure: The Blight fails to take root in the victim. The Cappadocian may try again with another expenditure of Willpower and Vitae in following rounds. Success: The victim suffers from the vampire’s Blight. The victim loses the 10-again rule in regards to Physical Attributes for the remainder of the scene, as their bones and muscles weaken and advanced age sets in. Any 1s that come up on Physical dice pools during this time subtract from successes. Even Kindred are not immune to this power’s effects, physically appearing to rot in a manner similar to the Cappadocian weakness. A mortal who undertakes strenuous activity while under the effects of this power risks heart failure. For each round the mortal maintains such activity, she must make a Stamina roll or suffer a heart attack. Exceptional Success: The victim also suffers from a -1 penalty on all physical actions as the Blight settles deep in their bones, though a vampiric victim can still spend blood to enhance their physical attributes, as normal. Suggested Modifiers Modifier Situation — The victim is mortal -1 The victim is a ghoul -2 The victim is a vampire +1 The victim currently suffers from a minor ailment (a fever, the flu) +2 The victim currently suffers from a major ailment (dysentery, cholera) +3 The victim currently suffers from a terminal ailment (late-stage cancer, HIV) •••Awaken A character who possesses this power can pry himself from death’s grip. The character can awaken himself or another vampire who is in torpor. Cost: 2 Willpower Dice Pool: Resolve + Occult + Mortis - the Subject’s Blood Potency. The vampire must be touching the vampire he wishes to Awaken. Action: Extended. Each roll represents an hour’s worth of concentration. The character must gather a number of successes equal to 10-the subject’s Humanity. Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The subject’s torpid self refuses to be roused, and no further attempts to awaken the vampire can be made by the user of this power. Failure: The vampire fails to garner any appreciable success towards rousing the subject for that hour. Another hour must be spent in concentration before the next attempt can be made. Success: The vampire makes headway towards rousing the subject. Once the correct number of successes have been made, the subject rises from torpor. If the subject fell into torpor as a result of hunger, they awaken with 1 Vitae in their system. Exceptional Success: Extra successes are their own reward. Suggested Modifiers Modifier Situation -5 The vampire is trying to Awaken himself +3 The character possesses a Blood Tie to the vampire he is trying to awaken. ••••Black Death By touching an individual, the character can cause the victim to experience an early death (or, in the case of vampires, to enter torpor). The victim, if mortal, begins to exhibit signs of the Bubonic Plague: sunken and blackened eyes, swollen lymphs and a sickly pallor of the skin. Within one day, all bodily functions cease. Kindred victims of this power enter torpor within the same timeframe. Cost: 2 Willpower, 1 Vitae. Dice Pool: Stamina + Occult + Mortis - the target’s Stamina+Blood Potency. The vampire must touch their intended victim to use this power. Action: Instant Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The power backlashes violently and the user must immediately roll to avoid entering Torpor, as described below. The intended target is immune to further uses of Black Death by the user for the rest of the night. Failure: The power fails to strike the intended victim. The vampire may attempt again on the next round by spending more Willpower and touching their target again. Success: The vampire curses the target with a virulent (though not contagious) strain of the Bubonic Plague. Mortal victims will die within the next day if they don’t seek immediate medical attention, and vampires must resist the call of Torpor by rolling their Humanity immediately. If the target fails this roll they will awaken at the end of the scene. Exceptional Success: The Plague is merciless. Mortal victims die immediately, and vampiric victims who fail their roll to resist Torpor remain insensate for the remainder of the night. Suggested Modifiers Modifier Situation +1 The vampire has a Blood Tie to his victim. -2 The vampire has a Blood Bond to his victim. +2 The victim has a Blood Bond to the vampire. +1 to +3 The victim is already suffering from an illness. •••••Death’s Whisper For a brief time the character sloughs off his own Damnation. While the character is under the influence of this power he is not affected by any of the traditional banes against vampires. His body is not burned by sunlight or fire, he craves no blood, and the Beast is silent. However, the cost is high - the character loses all access to his vampiric abilities. He cannot manipulate his own Vitae, and his Disciplines are beyond his grasp. But while he is no longer undead, neither is he truly alive, and only his own frail Morality serves to animate him. Cost: 2 Vitae. Dice Pool: None Action: Instant While under the effects of Death’s Whisper, the user of this power no longer counts as a vampire. He breathes and eats, and he does not suffer from the Predator’s Taint or trigger the Predator’s Taint in others. He heals in the same fashion as a mortal, and has none of the vulnerabilities or powers of the vampiric condition. However, as he is experiencing only a simulacra of life, his maximum dice pool for any action is his own Humanity rating (his Path offers no assistance, though he must still follow its tenets.) The vampire is still subject to any Blood Bonds he may have fallen under before the power came into effect, and Blood Bonds he may have imposed on others are still effective, though he cannot create new Blood Bonds. The effects of Death’s Whisper last for one scene. The Path of Night Sins of the Path • Repenting your behavior, Accepting the superiority of another •• Aiding another, Intentional or impassioned killing ••• Bowing to another Kindred’s will, Accidental killing •••• Asking aid of another, Failing to be innovative in your depredations ••••• Acting in the interests of another, Killing a mortal for food Ethics of the Path Leave no being untouched by one’s taint. All beings must experience the touch of evil. The weak must be destroyed. The strong must be destroyed or corrupted. Those too strong or peripheral to be destroyed or corrupted must at least be scarred in passing. Tempt and horrify those around one’s self. The weak will fall, while the strong will be tempered by the test. Vampires, as creatures of life and death, have been sent as emissaries from the other side. It is their duty to break down the physical and spiritual resolve of all whom they come in contact. Nihilists, however, recognise that some beings are fated to serve other powers than those of evil. If it is clear that a being is as spiritually pure (or simply different) as the vampire is corrupt, it is part of the natural order to allow that being to be what it is. Nihilists are also soldiers of darkness. Just because a foe is respected doesn’t mean it can’t be destroyed. Inspire others to accept their inner darkness. As emissaries, nihilists are “PR agents” of evil. Every being turned to its own darkness is another soldier in the great cosmic struggle between light and shadow. Experience every sensation possible, and then some. Just as a master craftsperson must be familiar with all his tools, so must a master of evil understand all mediums in which he can work. Even “good” or “pure” sensations must be experienced. It is easier to work against a noble victim when one has knowledge of nobility, a pure victim when one understands purity, a loving victim when one understands love. Death is a means, not an end. A vampire has died, true, but has not experienced the entirety of what lies beyond death. It is not one’s place to meddle with the planes beyond. If it were, a vampire would not have been sent back to the living world. Since it is one’s lot to scourge this world, not the next, victims must be kept in a vampire’s sphere of influence as long as possible. A dead victim is beyond one’s reach. A living victim may experience evil in all its manifestations. Vampires, as souls damned by God, fulfill their purpose by preying on mortals. Few things are more horrifying than the idea of being eaten. For this reason alone, vampires must prey on mortals. Though the undead must spread as much evil as possible in the living world, it is sometimes their duty to act as shepherds, sending a soul to its final reward (or preferably to perdition). New Merit: Malkavian Time (• to •••••) You may roll Wits+Malkavian Time to broadcast a deranged message to one other Malkavian that you are aware of within your current city. Success indicates that they receive your message. The storyteller may also give you occasional visions (potentially true, potentially not), with effects concurrent to your rating in this Merit. You can always sense the presence of other Malkavians in your immediate presence who possess this Merit. Valeren Valeren is the path of the warrior, a Discipline of righteous wrath, originally developed by the demon-slayers and questing knights of the Salubri. Practitioners walk the road of the crusader, tempering themselves against the Beast’s feral nature and refusing to bow to other Kindred. Valeren teaches skills for identifying the strength of others and either bolstering it or eroding it. At higher levels, a master of Valeren becomes a juggernaut himself, and elder Salubri are fearsome combatants. •Sense Vitality The vampire can feel the flow of a subject’s life force after touching him. Sense Vitality may be used to determine how much damage a person can withstand before death, which can also be useful in sizing up a potential opponent. It can also aid in medical diagnosis or feeding, as it can reveal infections or diseases. Cost: None Dice Pool: Intelligence + Medicine + Valeren. The vampire must touch his target. Action: Instant Roll Results Dramatic Failure:The vampire receives erroneous or contradictory results, as determined by the Storyteller. A target may appear to have less Vitae in their system then is truthful, or more. A healthy target may appear to be ill, or an injured target may appear to be fine. Someone of weak constitution may appear to be far more hearty than they really are. A vampire may read as a human or a ghoul. Failure: The vampire fails to garner any useful information about the subject’s physical condition, but may roll again on the next round to gain more information so long as they are still touching the target. Success: For every success on the roll, the vampire learns one piece of information about the subject. The player can choose what information they want to know about, and the storyteller can feel free to suggest something relevant that the vampire may have also noticed. • The vampire can determine what sort of creature he is touching; whether they are mortal, a ghoul, a vampire, or some other form of creature (or if the subject doesn’t actually exist). • The vampire can determine what current or total number of Health Levels the subject possess (each piece of information requires one success) • The vampire can determine the current number of points in the target’s Vitae Pool (if a vampire), or how much Blood is left in the target’s system (if mortal). This number will be the same regardless of the type of creature that the subject is, so most Salubri will determine that first. • The vampire can determine if the subject is suffering from any sort of diseases or foreign substance in their bloodstream. Exceptional Success: In addition to being able to determine more about their subject, the vampire also receives a limited form of “aftersight”, where by they can determine to a limited extent how the subject came to be in their current condition. For each success beyond 4, the vampire can ask the Storyteller one question about how the subject came to be in their current condition; ie, the vampire might ask “Are his wounds aggravated?” or “What was his cause of death?” and expect a reasonable answer; but he can’t pick specific names or faces out of this flash of insight, so a question like “What does the man who stabbed him look like?” would be invalid. Suggested Modifiers Modifier Situation -1 The vampire has never encountered this type of creature before +1 The vampire has examined the same subject before -3 The creature has a substance or disease in his system that the vampire has never encountered +3 The vampire has a Blood Tie to this creature ••Anesthetic Touch This power may be used to block a subject’s pain from wounds or disease, or to put a mortal target to sleep. As with Sense Vitality, physical contact is required to anaesthetize someone. Cost: 1 Vitae Dice Pool: Presence + Medicine + Valeren - the target’s Willpower, if they resist. The vampire must touch their target to use this power. Action: Instant Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The power has the opposite effect as intended. A target who is supposed to be able to ignore their wounds instead suffers twice the normal wound penalties that would be otherwise suffering for the next hour. A target who would normally be rendered unconscious instead suffers a bout of insomnia for the next 24 hours and loses a Willpower point for their trouble. The target is immune to further attempts by the vampire to use Anesthetic Touch for the remainder of the night. Failure: The power fails to take effect. The vampire may try again on the next round by spending another Vitae if they are still touching their target. Success: There are two different effects that this power may take. The first effect renders the subject numb for 1 hour per success. During this time the subject does not suffer from wound penalties, but also suffers a -1 penalty on all rolls requiring Wits as their sense of touch is muted and they feel drugged. The second effect renders the subject unconscious. In the case of mortals, they fall asleep for five to ten hours - whatever their normal sleep cycle is, and regain one Willpower point on awakening. He sleeps peacefully and does not suffer nightmares or the effects of any derangements while asleep. He may be awakened normally (or violently). Vampires can be rendered numb, as with the first effect, but are immune to the second effect of the power. Exceptional Success: No additional effect. •••Burning Touch The vampire touches his subject, shocking her with a searing pain. This power causes no actual damage to the subject, though prolonged exposure to this unnatural pain sometimes leaves victims traumatized. The Salubri use this power to extract information from their enemies, and also sometimes to cause additional pain to someone before delivering true Final Death. Cost: 1 or more Vitae (see text) Dice Pool: None, but the vampire must touch his victim. Action: Instant For every Vitae spent, the vampire imposes a -2 penalty to all of their victim’s dice pools. Penalties fade at the rate of 1 per round. For example, if a Salubri grabs a ghoul and spends two blood to inflict the Burning Touch, the Ghoul would suffer a -4 penalty on the first round. The round afterwards, the penalty would be -3, then -2, and etc. The Salubri could touch the ghoul again and spend more Vitae to impose greater penalties. ••••Armor of Fury The lessons of Valeren turn inward as the vampire progresses, and in the crusades that the Salubri are prone to undertaking few powers see as much use as this one. The vampire invoking this power is surrounded by a shining halo reminiscent of crimson mail. The phantom armor created by this ability protects the vampire against most sources of physical injury; it also keeps him or her from entering Rötschreck due to an ongoing battle, when such a frenzy of fear would lead him into greater danger. Many envy the Salubri for this ability, and it would make for a powerful bargaining chip, if so many Salubri were not loathe to teach it to potential foes. Cost: 1 Vitae Dice Pool: Stamina + Survival + Valeren Action: Reflexive Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The vampire’s Beast reacts poorly to being used for such a purpose, and the Vitae spent is wasted. In addition, the Vampire must immediately roll to resist Rötschreck for whipping up his Beast. Failure: The power fails and the vitae is wasted. Success:The vampire is suffused with an angry red glow (which is an obvious violation of the Masquerade to any who care about such things), and he gains an additional point of Armor per success. This armor supplements, rather than replaces, any armor the Kindred may already be wearing, making him particularly difficult to harm. Exceptional Success: The vampire is also steeled against Rötschreck, gaining +1 dice per every success past the fourth to resist a fear frenzy owing to the horrors of combat. The effects of Armor of Fury last for the remainder of the scene. •••••Vengeance of Samiel By invoking the names of mighty warriors of nights past, the vampire strikes his foe with inhuman force and accuracy. This power causes the Kindred’s eyes to glow with a baleful redness. Some vampires choose instead close their eyes, signifying their disdain for their foes and horrifying them at the same time. Cost: 3 Vitae Dice Pool: None Action: Reflexive The next single attack made by the vampire automatically hits the target as mystic forces guide the blow. Attacks made in this manner may not be dodged (they ignore the target’s Defense). The blow strikes as if the vampire had succeeded with every die in his dice pool, and deals an additional 2 damage on top of any other modifiers. The additional damage may go over the standard maximum of damage. This power may only be used once per turn (if possible, given the cost in Vitae), and only when the vampire’s sole action is the attack. Additionally, this power does not work for ranged weapons, only attacks made in melee are affected. Self-Focus Sins of the Path • Being a slave; submitting to the blood bond or a boon, Frenzying •• Not meditating regularly, Restraining the Beast when it must be freed ••• Struggling with one’s self, Seeking to control others •••• Relying on others, Not treating others as you wish to be treated ••••• Laziness – mental or physical, Overconfidence Ethics of the Path Live in the moment, with no thought to what has been or what is to come. Neither can be affected. Know one's self, intellect and Beast utterly. The visceral and intellectual are equal parts of vampiric nature Do not mourn those who fall to one's predation, provided such predation occurs at the correct time and place. When hungry, feed. When threatened, kill. To mourn suggests that the tao is wrong Do not be overconfident. The overconfident do not know their limits. But equally, do not underestimate one's self Judge others (and one's self) by what they do and how they do it, not by their words A being is responsible to itself and only to itself, not others LifeGetsWorser fucked around with this message at 14:03 on May 22, 2014 |
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May 19, 2014 22:16
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Rolling up an occultist Mekhet, should have this done ASAP.
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May 20, 2014 01:35
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I've been waiting for a Vampire game to start! I vote for Anarch and will either roll up a daeva conman or a gangrel dog trainer.
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May 20, 2014 02:32
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All the best oWoD characters I ever played were mentally unwell in some capacity, so maybe I'll make a Malk. On that subject: I thought Derangements weren't a thing any more in GMC, mechanically?
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May 20, 2014 02:35
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Ha, awesome, glad to be of service. I've updated a couple things with more information since I'm not being distracted by work at the moment. Also, I am currently lurking in #verumaeternus to answer any questions.
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May 20, 2014 02:40
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Cabbit posted:All the best oWoD characters I ever played were mentally unwell in some capacity, so maybe I'll make a Malk. On that subject: I thought Derangements weren't a thing any more in GMC, mechanically? That may be true! Use the Requiem versions - such that Malkavians can exist.
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May 20, 2014 02:41
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Just read teh update. I'm also voting for pooled beats to encourage more player/player interaction instead of just player/ST.
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May 20, 2014 02:44
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LifeGetsWorser posted:That may be true! Use the Requiem versions - such that Malkavians can exist. Sounds good. Also, for the sake of wasting Lowtax's precious forum space and weighing my options, can we see the Mortis discipline?
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May 20, 2014 02:51
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Surely can - look up.
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May 20, 2014 02:54
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Tempted to play an Ordo Dracul Ventrue who has only recently been embraced (primarily because I've never played Vampire, and that might help me as a player get used to the setting).
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May 20, 2014 05:12
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I'm thinking about apping an Invictus Ventrue. Maybe an ex-military officer. Edit: Thinking about it a bit, I might go with a Daeva instead. Play up the whole inspiring officer, warlord angle. Valhawk fucked around with this message at 06:32 on May 20, 2014 |
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May 20, 2014 05:22
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I'm going with the gangrel and want a ghoul dog. Are 2 dots in retainer enough or should I invest more/ pick something else?
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May 20, 2014 05:39
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Two dots in retainer should be fine, depending on how useful you want the dog ghoul to be. But no problem with it as far as I can see.
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May 20, 2014 12:46
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pre:Name: Alistair Erikson Virtue: Charity Vice: Pride Concept: Helpful Occultist Clan: Mekhet [pre] Attributes Mental Physical Social Intelligence- 4/5, Strength - 1/5, Presence - 2/5 Wits - 2/5, Dexterity- 3/5, Manipulation- 2/5 Resolve - 3/5, Stamina - 2/5, Composure - 3/5 Mental Physical Social Academics - 2 Athletics- 1 Animal Ken - 0 Computer - 2 Brawl - 0 Empathy - 2 Crafts - 0 Drive - 1 Expression - 1 Investigation- 1 Firearms - 0 Intimidation- 0 Medicine - 0 Larceny - 0 Persuasion - 2 Occult - 4 Stealth - 2 Socialise - 2 Politics - 2 Survival - 0 Streetwise - 0 Science - 0 Weaponry - 0 Subterfuge - 0 Disciplines Auspex - 1 Obfuscate- 1 Celerity - 1 Health Size Defence Initiative Willpower 4 5 4 6 6/6 Merits Safe place - 1 Library-Occult - 1 Language-(Norwegian)- 1 Haven - 2 Dream Visions - 1 Status- Occultists - 1 Staff - Library/bar - 2 Feeding Ground - 1 Josef bugman fucked around with this message at 23:00 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 20, 2014 23:32
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I've played Vampire on and off for the last decade or so. Very rarely Requiem though even though I kinda like it more. I'd love to roll up a Lasombra.
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May 20, 2014 23:52
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Josef bugman posted:
To answer your question - you can either PM me, post it in thread, or shoot it to me on IRC, I am not picky.
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May 21, 2014 00:49
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Okay, which IRC are you in?
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May 21, 2014 00:50
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#verumaeternus
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May 21, 2014 00:57
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On SynIRC, it should be noted.
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May 21, 2014 01:59
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Right, yes, that.
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May 21, 2014 02:33
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Color me intrigued. Think I'll roll up a Lasombra for this.
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May 21, 2014 02:42
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Cool, keep 'em coming.
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May 21, 2014 03:04
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If this is the old setting, shouldn't the Daeva be House Toreador?
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May 21, 2014 04:12
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Epicurius posted:If this is the old setting, shouldn't the Daeva be House Toreador? I could have done Brujah and Toreador, or I could just do what Requiem did and use the Daeva. I went with the Daeva for the sake of unique discipline-ness and because you can do brujah or toreador ideas conceptually with either.
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May 21, 2014 04:32
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I've always been intrigued by the Salubri but been unable to follow up because the whole "there are only seven and they've all been destroyed" thing (or something like that, it's been a long time) was rather limiting. I'd like to see the details about Valeren.
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May 21, 2014 06:00
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Ask and you shall receive Bouquet, check the requests post.
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May 21, 2014 16:09
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I've never played Requiem before and never done pbp BUT I did love me some Masquerade. I'm interested in Salubri.
Ms. Happiness fucked around with this message at 16:29 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 16:23
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So because there's been a fair bit of interest on the two clans, let me go into how the changes affected The Cappadocians/Giovanni and the Salubri/Tremere (and to a lesser extent - Mekhet/Followers of Set). As the prime example, let's talk about the Salubri first. In the oWoD timeline, Tremere wanted to live forever, so he tracked down a Tzimisce and stole immortality from him, then realized that A: his magic wasn't working and B: he and his followers weren't going to be strong enough to take down a pissed off Vampire Clan and the Mage Tradition he backstabbed to get there, so he had to make a desperate gambit - he hunted down an antedeluvian and diablerized them - specifically Salout, the progenitor of the Salubri and in theory the kindest of the 13. Now, this pissed off the Salubri something fierce, but, having eaten an antedeluvian, he was strong enough and, being young and a mage in his breathing days, innovative enough to reshape the vast majority of the clan away from the long suffering paladin image towards the scheming warlock image, and managed to make his own kind of magic, Thaumaturgy, work using vampiric power. If that wasn't enough, he was able to convince the vast majority of princes in the middle ages that it turned out the Salubri were really demon worshipping soul-eaters, and not the people hunting down those very guys (which they were in the process of doing), and when the first Anarch Revolt happened and failed, he used Thaumaturgy to curse the Assamite clan, making vampiric vitae poisonous to them - which was a big deal since the Assamites have a thing where they like diablerizing their kills. This pissed off the Assamites a bunch, but it also enamored the nascent Camarilla to the Tremere, and they became one of the founding Clans of the institution. A short while later Augustus Giovanni, a talented mortal necromancer, was brought into the Cappadocian clan for his insights. The problem with Giovanni was that he was roughly as ambitious and innovative, if in a more narrow fashion, as Tremere was, so he took it upon himself to repeat the process - he hunted down the Cappadocian founder and ate him, and remade the clan in his own image, renaming them the Giovanni. Except Augustus wasn't interested in demonizing the Cappadocians he didn't personally create or recruit - he just decided to have them all killed, like a proper mobster. Since he hadn't done any propagandizing, and Necromancy is even more creepy than Thaumaturgy, his Clan wasn't invited to play in the Camarilla or the Sabbat when the Sabbat came into existence. Not that he cared, particularly. The problem with both of these Clans is they did it during the dark ages (closer to the Renaissance for Augustus, but still). The issue there is that it's really hard to track down every single member of a clan you're looking to exterminate, and in neither case did they actually get them all. The Salubri had only 7 guys left - the seven who were thought of to be a bunch of wackjobs by the rest of the Clan - the rest of the Clan that got hunted down by the Tremere, mind you. The reason those 7 were thought to be so weird is that they had this peculiar habit of reaching Golconda, finding a childe, and then having the child diablerize them and go look for Golconda themselves. Eventually, one of them embraced someone who wasn't down with that program and he decided instead to aggressively Embrace - after joining the Sabbat, to try and strike back at the Tremere. Meanwhile, things went even more sideways for the Cappadocians - the handful of surviving elders who escaped the Giovanni's initial purge locked themselves in a cave in Europe bordering the realm of the dead, where they went crazy over the next millenium and a half. When they decided enough research had been done and they wanted to get their revenge on, they joined up with the Sabbat as well, calling themselves the Harbingers of Skulls. The Sabbat, of course, always outnumbered by the Camarilla, was happy to have both of these groups on their side. Now, the reason why I'm giving the history lesson is that things didn't work quite that way in my reimagined hodgepodge. It's close, but a basic tenant of Requiem that I'm cribbing is that while Clans may express certain differences along family lines - you can't change the basic tenant of your curse - your weakness can't go from needing to help people out to nothing (in the case of the Tremere), nor can it go from being pale and corpse like, to it really hurting when you bite someone (in the case of the Giovanni). You also can't lose your clan disciplines or mix them up - they're part of what you are. Now, while Covenants come and go (it's rare, but it happens. See the Legion of the Dead in Requiem for Rome), and even Sects can crumble, Clans are forever (mostly - the Julii and the Ventrue have a lot more in common than the Ventrue will ever admit to or remember). So, just because Tremere and Augustus tried to purge everyone not directly in their bloodline, that didn't stop them from being Salubri or Cappadocian, respectively. See, really what the two usurpers did was create Covenants. It was mostly a matter of academics for a while, since they had purged the non-conformists and were denying access to those who weren't members of their Clan. But, just like in the oWoD, they didn't get everyone, and eventually the non-conformists came back - but regardless of whatever fancy names they called themselves, they were still Cappadocians, or Salubri, the entire time. That's not something that changed, nor is it something that can change. And, given the current upheaval of Kindred society, the Tremere and Giovanni covenants have been forced to adapt or die, they've needed to let others in, in greater numbers than they ever have before, because the other covenants are doing it, and crossing sect lines, and if they hadn't, the Tremere and Giovanni would cease to exist. This brings me to the Followers of Set, and the reason why I included them and the Mekhet here. You see, unlike the other two examples, the Followers of Set have always been Mekhet. They accept and believe, wholeheartedly, that the Mekhet founder is Set, and the Setites have always been around, the vast bulk of the Clan, doing the good work of their master. Every so often a Mekhet would slip through the cracks - not surprising given the subtlety of the Clan or their penchant for ferreting out secrets, but general Kindred sentiment has, for a long time been that a Mekhet is a Setite and a Setite is a Mekhet. (Vampires are kind of big on stereotyping, and unlike many Mekhet, Setites are more prone to being noticed, if not seen directly, so a stereotype developed). But, they didn't have nearly as big of a stranglehold on their blood that the Tremere and Giovanni ever had on theirs, so it wasn't impossible for Mekhet to belong to other Covenants, even since antiquity. But, much like the Tremere and Giovanni, they have been forced to become a bit more accepting of other Clans to avoid being marginalized - the fact of the matter was though, that the Followers have always been a bit more cosmopolitan than they seem to be on the outside - it's the sort of secret that just happened - Torpor can confuse a Kindred's memories, and the Followers don't refer to themselves as Mekhet (or Nosferatu or Ravnos or what have you) traditionally, they just call themselves the Followers of Set. So this was a bunch of rambling, but hopefully it cleared up some stuff about the way I re-classified things.
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May 21, 2014 17:15
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I'll have my sheet and background posted tonight.
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May 21, 2014 19:27
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 I had always had a love for esoteric questions, my families from Norway and granddad was always talking about the Thule society "nutjobs" he was dealing with back in Norway. My parents loved it, spent all their time looking into mysteries and secrets. Heck I'm even named after Mr Crowley, though they did that more as a joke than in memory of a man they thought of as little more than a step up from David Blaine. I got interested myself, the only way I could have rebelled would have been to start running track and field and wearing a tight t-shirt. I got really interested, starting wondering why there were so many blanks in so many books, started asking questions, questions that didn't get answered. I started getting a bit obsessed, it was all to find stuff out after all and my parents wanted that, right? Climb the ladder Confront Vulnerability I got a bit too obsessed, I stopped really phoning in to my folks, stopped being as interested in their stories. I still tried to talk to them but, well, I was so sure I would come up with some great unified theory of mythology that I got a bit distracted. I was so sure I could get the answers, that it would help to make me knowledgeable. Believe someone has answers They were friends of friends of friends. They were a sort of club, claimed they were researching bits of mysteries left hidden in the dark of the old books. I joined because I thought it would be good to meet like minded people. But when you've seen someone butcher a goat and smear its grease on a tree to attract some goat headed thing from the woods of Quebec, you sort of start pondering "what the hell have I gotten myself into". Meet your Maker She stepped in then, she was beautiful and strong and terrifying, full of fire and occultism. Said she had killed the demon by turning its blood to salt. Of course at that point I had half my guts hanging out and was still clinging to life, but she seemed to take a measure of pity on me, said it would be "A shame to waste such potential here". Find Fear She was part of a coterie, working for this rotten old corpse that lived on the border of the USA. He stalked corridors and never laughed and seemed to always have a smell like burned hair wafting about him, I first knew fear when I saw him tear into my sire and her coterie when they attempted to stop him from carrying out some truly horrific magic. I had already packed to leave, on my sires orders, when I saw him tear the arm off an angry gangrel and laugh, I ran and didn't stop till I had to hide myself in a rundown tennament about 10 miles away and haven't stopped looking over my shoulder since. Leave a Witness Grandad was still in New York, kept a bookshop and a little bar out in one of the less developed areas. I found him, told him a little bit about what had happened. He seemed more understanding than I had expected, he just nodded when I told him about all of it as if it were me admitting I was homosexual or something than I was now Undead. He tapped the old iron chest he keeps with him and simply mutters something about "Thule and Odin" every so often, but he's a good friend and god dammit he's kin to me. Suffer your Defects It was a night like any other, the staff at the bar were used to seeing me, even the local goths knew who I was by now, and then she walks in. She was 23 and beautiful and the only thing I noticed about her was that her neck was exposed. The most beautiful thing in the world could appear and I was only looking out for how much they good feed me. I felt sick to my core and ran back to the attic room, how could I face myself, how could I face anyone like this. Beg someone, anyone, to fix you He said he was a Salubrai, just "passing through to look at the leaves change". He spoke of a quest for enlightenment, of trying to learn the path to bettering all with an immortal condition, of not fearing those who hated you. I had no idea if he was the monster that he said he was, but he gave me some books a rakish grin and told me to "look after myself", I don't know if I wanted to. Told me that I'd better be careful of the rest of the night lurkers and that I'd go a long way if I kept into the books. Remember your victims Nothing worse than a scream. I heard it from the woods near my house, my haven as it'd become by now. I rushed out the door and saw a woman being run down by 5 laughing men. I tried my best, really I did, to scare them off and disable them. But by the time I got to her. I still try and lay flowers there as often as I can, and I worry about forgetting her. Embrace a wrong I recognised the guys that did it to her though, and I'd sworn that petty revenge didn't do anyone any good, but my gods I enjoyed making them scared, moving stuff around their home, making them feel like they were constantly being watched, reporting them. Even just calling and hanging up to make them really really hate themselves for what they had done. Find Like Minds Most vampires I run into, and I seem to run into a lot, seem to be into this "Camarilla" thing. So I decided to help them a little bit, you know just odds and ends to make sure that the city stays working. Some of their orders about making sure the guilty are protected go strangely missing in my neck of the woods though, but I still think the system needs reform, not tearing down. Yet. Seize the Night Fact is I am dead. But I've got a good thing, a reasonable group of people who like and know me, not quite at "Norm!" levels but still. I've actually gotten a better relationship with my family since I died, and I am determined to not end up some old bloodsucker in a castle, I am going to make the world a better place, one well placed blessing or curse at a time.
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May 21, 2014 23:00
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 I like this, you get a good sense of Alistair and it gives me plenty to fill in the blanks with. Yes, head's up for anyone struggling with that ladder - pick one question from each category like Josef did and just provide a brief summation - I don't need 24 short stories for every app.
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May 21, 2014 23:10
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Hmmmmm. I've still never gotten a chance to play Vampire and I would love to at least app for this. I probably need books though, especially the translation guide. How can I get in touch with you for them? (I don't have PMs.) Right now though I'm thinking about either a vicious criminal who was embraced by a Salubri and is torn between his "innate nobility", his supernatural Beast, and his human one, or a Ventrue or Toreador schoolteacher turning the campus into the beginning of her power base.
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May 22, 2014 00:00
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TehWarsmith posted:Hmmmmm. I've still never gotten a chance to play Vampire and I would love to at least app for this. I probably need books though, especially the translation guide. How can I get in touch with you for them? (I don't have PMs.) If you need assistance with acquiring reading material, look for me on IRC if you don't have PMs. Only thing is Toreador = Daeva, but that's fine conceptually either way. EDIT: I mean later for IRC, I'm at work right now and don't have access.
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May 22, 2014 00:21
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Oh, yeah, I know the two are the same. Was just thinking in Bloodlines mode for a second, hehe.
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May 22, 2014 01:24
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Ricky Fry, gangrel dog trainer Confront Vulnerability It had been two years since Ricky died and everything was so much better now. While he was still living, Ricky was miserable, drowning in debt, horrible girlfriend, no friends except his dog. The only ray of light in his otherwise bleak existence was his job, dog trainer, and the few times a year he was able to get out into the woods and go bow hunting. It was just enough to keep him walking the same rut, depressed and listless, too afraid to try and change things for the better, but not low enough to kill himself. He was in purgatory and it took a horror from outside his life to break him out. Two days into his last hunt, Ricky realized that something was hunting him instead. The camp fire was burning low and he was sharing the last of the rabbit he had trapped with his dog, Morgan when the dog's head snapped up and he began to growl at the darkness. The thing that emerged from the shadows cast by the fading fire was a nauseating mix animal and plant, as if the vegetation around him had taken humanoid form and dressed itself with rotting chunks of deer. It made no sound as it advanced, but their was an sinister light of malevolence behind the dead gray eyes of the deer head that froze Ricky where he sat, his mind threatening to break. Morgan didn't freeze, though, the labrador launched itself at the monster, tearing a chunk of vines away from the thing's neck. The attack was enough to break Ricky from his trance and he rolled away, grabbing his bow and knocking an arrow and firing. The shaft hit where the thing's heart should have been, but passed right through the vines and branches forming its body without slowing the beast down. His next arrow sank deep into the dead head bobbing from the torn neck stump with hardly anymore effect. Vines snaked out of the abomination's hand and wrapped themselves around Morgan. The dog yelped in pain as thorns burst from the vines, digging into the dog's flesh. Ricky dropped the bow and, in a moment of inspiration, grabbed a thick branch from the fire. He plunged the burning wood into the monster's chest, which lit up like dry grass. Still silent, the creature flailed about, tossing Morgan into a tree with a wet thump, before vanishing into the night. His dog dead, his mind on the brink of madness, Ricky had just enough sense to grab his bow and quiver, but not his pack before fleeing deeper into the woods. He ran for three days, catching sleep in small, fitful snatches before finally coming to his senses. Believe Someone Has Answers All in all, he spent eight days in the woods that trip. Aside from the attack, he never saw the monster again, although the feeling of being watched never went away. Sometimes he'd spy a bird or squirrel just staring at him instead of running. When he made it back to the world all he said was that a cougar attacked him, killing Morgan, but he couldn't go on like before. The idea of that thing haunted him, but having survived it, Ricky was no longer afraid of making changes to his own life. I the following weeks, he broke up with his boring girlfriend, quit his job, started training freelance and actually fought off two kids who tried to mug him. Even with his new found confidence, Ricky still felt as if he was being watched. Which he was. His sire had actually been hunting him on that last trip into the woods. The fight with the monster and Ricky's survival made the vampire curious. The troubles Ricky faced after emerging from the woods were put there by his sire. Ricky passed. Meet Your Maker Michelle, his sire, actually sought him out and Ricky immediately knew she was something special. There was a primal grace to the way she moved and though she was a bit cold, Ricky was in love. When she showed him what she was, he didn't even hesitate to ask her to change him. They could hunt the night together forever. They stayed together for a year, Ricky taking to hunting humans with the same ease he had to deer and bear. He learned to stalk the alleyways of the city, how to trawl the clubs and how to hide a body. He hadn't had any accidents, but Michelle insisted it was only a matter of time. Find Fear One of the first lessons Michelle taught him was how to harness the Beast. Most vampires, she said, feared their Beasts. Some tried to tell themselves it wasn't part of them, Michelle forced Ricky to look deep inside himself and confront the monster that he had become. It was wrong to resist the Beast, it needed to be let out, Ricky needed to let himself cut loose. Michelle showed him how to do that without destroying everything he had built. The first time Ricky cut loose and tried to ride the Beast, he failed. If Michelle hadn't beat him down, he would have killed the man he had been hunting. Beg Someone To Fix You When Michelle left, the reality of Ricky's new existence began to sink in. He was survivor, yes, but he was also alone now. That was when he adopted a new puppy. Fang is a lab/pit mix and, even without the blood bond from the dog's eventual ghouling, totally devoted to Ricky. Having the dog there, knowing something... anything, was relying on him to keep it alive helped Ricky fight off the loneliness. Embrace a Wrong Life feeds on life. Every living creature eats and Ricky ate plenty of animals as a human. Now, he doesn't even need to kill his food. Hunting does not bother him the way it does other vampires, it's still just sport. Find Like Minds The Anarchs are where it's at. No stuffy rules like the Camarilla. No mindless blood lust like the Sabbat. The anarchs just want to be free from the games of the Elders. They actually like being vampires and good to be around people who understand you. Seize the Night Ricky was good with animals before the embrace, now that he can actually talk to them, he's amazing. He offers private lessons, after dark of course. There's a bullshit reason about a dog's natural rhythms being in synch with the moon that satisfies most people and with the results Ricky delivers, those that do complain don't for very long. He's going to build a business, an exclusive clientele. Then he's going to build a pack, ghouling Fang was a start. Being a vampire is great. Aspirations: Earn a comfortable (un)living as a dog trainer. Build, buy or steal a haven large enough for a couple big dogs and build a pack. Touchstone: Dr. Dan Savos (see allies) Allies: Dr Dan Savos is one of Ricky's oldest (and only) friends. The two grew up together and shared a love of animals, Savos going on to become a veterinarian. Dan doesn't know Ricky's secret, but Ricky plans to eventually bring him into his pack once the vampire feels he can handle a human ghoul. Contacts: Ricky keeps in touch with a number of other hunters as well as people in working in the pet service industry. Specialties: Animal Ken (dogs), Medicine (first aid), Survival (tracking) Note: Firearms skill is actually archery! A compound bow employs a set of pulleys rather than the raw tensile strength of the bow itself. A compound bow’s Traits are the same, save for its range, which is equal to quadruple the shooter’s Strength + Size + Athletics. Broadhead hunting arrows are tipped with an Xshaped razor-edged point designed to drive deep into flesh and sever arteries. A bow firing such an arrow gains +1 Damage and Armor Piercing 2 against a target with no or soft ballistic armor. Against a solid target or a character with rigid armor, the arrow instead suffers a –2 penalty to Damage. Broadhead arrows have Cost Fang: Attributes: Intelligence 1, Wits 4, Resolve 4, Strength 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3, Presence 4, Manipulation 1, Composure 3 Skills: Athletics (Running) 4, Brawl 3, Intimidation 3, Stealth 1, Survival (Tracking) 3 Willpower: 7 Initiative: 6 Defense: 4 Speed: 14 (species factor 7) Size: 4 Weapons/Attacks: Type Damage Dice Pool Bite 2 (L) 9 Health: 7 Blood Potency: 0 Fortitude: 1 Blood Pool Max: 3 Soonmot fucked around with this message at 01:48 on Jun 4, 2014 |
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May 22, 2014 03:46
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The Buddha advocated ahimsā, non-violence against the living. Vampires are not among the living. Do you truly think this is a coincidence?  pre:Name: Loren Ainslie Chancellor Virtue: Justice Vice: Wrath Concept: Buddhist Paladin Clan: Salubri Aspirations: Form a loving family, establish good reputation in community Attributes Mental Physical Social Intelligence- 2 Strength - 1 Presence - 3 Wits - 2 Dexterity- 4 Manipulation- 1 Resolve - 2 Stamina - 3 Composure - 4 Mental Physical Social Academics - 1 Athletics- 1 Animal Ken - 1 Computer - 0 Brawl - 1 Empathy - 1 Crafts - 2 Drive - 2 Expression - 2 Investigation- 2 Firearms - 0 Intimidation- 0 Medicine - 4 Larceny - 0 Persuasion - 0 Occult - 2 Stealth - 0 Socialise - 0 Politics - 0 Survival - 0 Streetwise - 0 Science - 0 Weaponry - 3 Subterfuge - 0 Specialties Occult - Vampires Weaponry - Knives Expression - Teaching Buddhism Disciplines Valeren - 1 Resilience - 1 Praestantia - 1 Health Size Defense Initiative Speed Willpower Blood Potency Humanity 9 5 5 8 10 6/6 1 7 Merits Safe place - 1 Haven - 1 Professional Training (Paramedic) - 3 Mystery Cult Initiation - 5 Camarilla Status - 1 Contacts: Cop, Charity organization doctor, prostitute pre:The Cult of Saksid Himsā Purpose: Destroy any vampires who engage in wholesale slaughter Relic: The sacred texts recording the words of Siddhārtha Gautama regarding vampires Doctrine: Be a good Buddhist plus do what you can to keep vampiric atrocities in check • Language (Sanskrit) •• Defensive Combat ••• Meditative Mind 2 •••• Fighting Finesse (Knives) ••••• Kindred Dueling 3 pre:Professional Training (Paramedic) Asset Skills: Medicine, Driving • Two dots of Contacts related to the field •• When making a roll with her Asset Skills, she benefits from the 9-again quality. ••• Merit: Tolerance for Biology. Medicine Specialty - Emergency Medicine. Drive Specialty - With Lights and Siren •••• Take a Skill dot in Medicine. Whenever you purchase a new Asset Skill dot, take a Beat. ••••• Merit: Trained Observer. Before rolling, spend a Willpower point to apply the rote action quality to an Asset Skill. pre:The Path of Śīla Hierarchy of Sins 1. Intentionally kill an innocent human. 2. Intentionally kill an animal. 3. Accidentally kill an innocent human. 4. Accidentally kill an animal (that is large enough to be noticeable). 5. Frenzying 6. Theft (including feeding from the unwilling or unaware) 7. Sexual misconduct 8. Lying 9. Using intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness 10. Indulging in luxury Ethics of the Path To refrain from taking life (non-violence towards sentient life forms), or ahimsā; To refrain from taking that which is not given (not committing theft); To refrain from sensual (including sexual) misconduct; To refrain from lying (speaking truth always); To refrain from intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness (specifically, drugs and alcohol). Vote for Camarilla and shared Beats. Ladder XP: 2 xp Merit: Herd 4 (Camarilla discount) 1 xp Merit: Herd 5 + Contacts 3 (Cam discount) 3 xp Merit: Feeding Grounds 3 (Cult runs an organic dairy farm outside of town) 5 xp Blood Potency 1->2 1 xp Merit: Resources 1 Wishlist: 2 xp Merit: Safe Place 1->3 2 xp Merit: Haven 1->3 2 xp Merit: Double-Jointed 2 xp Merit: Meditative Mind 2->4 1 xp Merit: Quick Draw (Knives) 2 xp Merit: Sympathetic?? 2 xp Merit: Danger Sense?? 2 xp Merit: Armed Defense 2 5 xp Merit: Light Weapons 5 2 xp Skill: Streetwise 1 Bouquet fucked around with this message at 23:33 on Jul 6, 2014 |
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May 22, 2014 06:58
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Spent my 8XP from the Ladder on a dot in Stamina and Resolve.
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May 22, 2014 07:54
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