"City of Light" (Solo Vampire: DA)

[pife]

Pre Game Info

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Vampire Metaplot

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Rough History- (And again, this is all basically bullet point summarized stuff, so feel free to ask for elaboration)..

Caine (as in Adam and Eve begat Caine and Abel) is the father of all Vampires (known amongst themselves as the "Kindred"). When Caine murdered Abel, God cursed Caine. (Reference Genesis 4:15: And the Lord said unto him, "Therefore, whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him seven-fold" And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

Each vampire has a "Generation", which is to say the number of generations between themselves and Caine. Cain is the only vampire of the "First" Generation. All those he created are the 2nd, and so on. (The "lower" your generation and hence, the closer to Caine, the more powerful your vampire is, and the more respect they will usually be afforded by other Cainites. (another word for the Kindred, but not used colloquially).

Nobody has seen Caine in over a thousand years. Nobody knows if any of the 2nd Generation survived (there were reportedly only three, and rumor says they're all dead). The 3rd Generation (known as the Antediluvians) are scary. In fact, common vampiric lore says that someday, the Antediluvians will awaken and devour all of their childer) There aren't very many of these left, but they're basically gods. The oldest Generation that you will likely have met would be an exceptionally rare 4th Generation. Generations 5/6/7/8 are all considered "Elders". Anything past the 12th Generation, the blood begins to thin so much that there is concern that the 13th/14th Generations won't even be able to sire childer. (Depending on chargen, you will likely be somewhere between the 7-10th Gen range).

The Masquerade: This is the way that the Kindred hide from humanity. It is required of all vampires that they not "flaunt" their vampiric natures. Especially here in the late Renaissance, vampires the world over have seen the effects that the Inquisition have had on their ranks, and realize that their best chance of long-term survival involves the humans not realizing that they exist. In practice, this is something that all vampires need to take seriously, but.. Every vampire needs to eat.. Every vampire does NOT need to slaughter an entire orphanage in the bloodiest manner imaginable and then scrawl "Vampirez wuz heer" in blood on the wall..

The Camarilla: In 1450, a small number of Elders got together and formed the cadre of what would eventually become the Camarilla.. Technically, the Camarilla is all-inclusive, meaning ALL vampires belong to it. However, in practice, some are fervent believers, some are half-hearted conformists, and still others think that it's a load of crap and work to undermine the Camarilla openly or in secret. This is the equivalent to "the Authority" in True Blood.. They would have little direct influence on an individual vampires comings and goings. Instead, they set policy. There are Camarilla operatives tasked with different things, but enforcing the Masquerade largely falls into the hands of the individual Princes.

CharGen Info

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Not all vampires are created equal. In fact, there are bloodlines, or "Clans", in the Cainite world. These clans are loosely organized (some better than others), but basically, to put it into D&D speak, it's sorta like your class, but not exactly.

There are 13 major bloodlines (and an unknown number of minor bloodlines). (I'm coloring the ones I'm "suggesting" in red, but feel free to ask for more info on the others, and we can look at those as well if you like. Clan actually means fairly little crunch-wise, but more fluff-wise. Largely the only crunchy thing that Clan dictates is the Clan Disciplines (Disciplines are the vampiric "blood powers")Please note that the Clan Disciplines are merely the Disciplines that are "cheaper" for you to start with. (Think of them as "class-skills", with the others being "cross-class")



Nature and Demeanor

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Okay, so.. You will have a trait called Willpower. This is one of the more critical traits for your character, used in a number of ways. You will have a permanent rating, and a temporary rating. (The temporary rating can be equal to or lower than your permanent). As you spend Willpower (for automatic successes, to keep from going into a frenzy, to resist mental attacks, etc) your temporary rating goes down. Getting it back up is key!

The first way to do that is.. you receive 1 point of willpower every day. (You also spend one Blood Point every day just to power your existence, so it makes sense to do both of those at the same time every day).

You can also gain willpower by.. Finishing an adventure (known in Vampire as a "Chronicle"), achieving wild success at something.. Or.. Through Nature and Demeanor..

Everyone has two aspects to their personality. One, their Demeanor, is how they portray themselves to the world. The other, their Nature, is how they really are. Sometimes these coincide or are similar. Sometimes they're wildly divergent. I will send you an email (as there are several pages worth of Nature and Demeanor descriptions) with the list. You will need to select one for each (like I said, they can match if you want to, but very few people are that "honest").

Backgrounds

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Backgrounds are a little different. Unlike other abilities, Backgrounds cannot be improved with Experience points. They are, literally, your background.. (Actually, you can improve them, but not with experience points. You have to roleplay through any changes in Backgrounds) However, some of them are exceptionally helpful. You get 5 points as a base, and they cost 1 point per dot as freebie points.

Allies- Mortal men and women who support you. They aid you willingly. They're not always available, and aren't suicidal, but they are your friends. (Optionally, they can be other vampires or potentially even other supernatural beings). 1 dot would be 1 ally of moderate influence and power in the immediate community, whereas 5 is 5 allies, one of whom is a major force in an important institution and can provide aid from far away.

Contacts- People who are willing to provide your character with information, though they are unlikely to offer any service beyond that. Each dot represents a specific individual whom we should determine who/what they are. (example: Lucy the Madame.. Might tell/sell you information, but wouldn't fight for you or risk herself (that's what an ally would do). Each individual also has a "halo" of surrounding lower-grade connections. So, theoretically, Lucy might know other madames, or her girls, or her johns, and could connect you to the information you seek via that route.

Domain- Physical territory, almost always within a town or city that you control access to for the purposes of feeding (remember the 5th Tradition). Each level of Domain reduces the difficulty of feeding checks by 1 for your character and anyone else whom you allow in. One dot would be a single home or farm, up to a 5 point "ghetto district" or border garrison. A city such as Rome would require many hundreds of Domain points, just to give you a scale. **Optional Use** You can designate some Domain points to increase the security of your domain rather than the size. For example, you spend 3 points, and have a "marketplace", for instance, Or, you could spend 4 points, and one of them is designated to security, meaning that a) adds a +1 difficulty (penalty) to anyone trying to intrude, and a -1 difficulty bonus for you to identify and track intruders on the domain.

Generation- This measures the number of vampires between you and Caine. Most new Vampires created now are 12th generation. So, 1 point takes you to 11th, 5 points takes you to 7th. (at 11th generation you have a blood pool of 12, can spend 1/turn and your traits max out at 5. At 7th Generation, you have a blood pool of 20, can spend 4/turn and your traits max at 6, just to give you the two extremes. (I recommend at least getting down to 9th, as at that point you can spend 2 blood points/turn. It makes a big difference)

Herd- Herd is the deliberately derogatory term among Cainites for mortals who "readily let the character and the vampires friends to drink their blood". Motives vary widely, though.. Once a vampire latches on, the "kiss" as it were, both humans and vampires undergo a rapturous nearly orgasmic pleasure, and only someone with incredibly strong willpower will even fight back at that point. (Once a vampire latches on, it's usually game over for a mortal, the mortal just rides the lightning straight to hell, lol). It's difficult to give your herd orders, as they don't work for you (necessarily). It would be like.. well heck, just think True Blood.. The people go to Fangtasia and offer themselves to be fed upon. It's similar to that. But these are addicts to the experience of feeding, and are NOT allies or contacts. each level of Herd provides an automatic blood poitn per night that you choose to feed, in addition to the vagaries of regular hunting. 1 dot is 3-5 reliable vessels, up to 75-100 for a 5 pointer.

Influence- This measures the degree to which you can make your wishes count in MORTAL society. In most cases, you've acquired influence through persuasion, bribery, passing yourself off as mortal, etc. (Capping this at 2 to start the game, btw). Each level of Influence reduces the difficulty of relevant rolls by 1. Keep in mind this applies only to the field and area which you have influence. If you have influence in the clergy of Venice, it doesn't mean anything to the beer-brewers of Vienna. 1 dot would be significant in the affairs of a small city of parish, 3 would make you a force to be reckoned with throughout several counties, 5 makes you vastly influential, a power behind the throne of the Church, or behind more than one national throne.

Mentor- Most Cainites are largely left to their own devices after they are released by their sires. This background indicates that they take an interest in you, providing advice, aid and resources. a 1 pointer would represent a wise, but not influential sire, 5 is one of the most significant vampires of the age.

Resources- Valuable goods whose disposition you control. This could be actual money, but is more likely to be property, grazing rights, animals, tax claims, etc. 1 means that you can maintain a typical residence in the style of the social class you choose and seem unmiserly. 2 makes you a member in good standing of the community and can maintain a small staff of servants. (Would let you maintain a 1 dot existence even when not at home, for up to 6 months). 3 prominent an established with land and property and a reputation which grants you credit at generous terms. (You get the idea, lol).

Retainers- Servants and companions with personal bonds of loyalty to you. The might be ghouls (Umm.. mortals fed vampire blood.. They stop aging, are very strong, are subject to the Blood Bond, etc)

Status- This marks your reputation and position among Cainite society. 1 means that you are known, 2 respected, 3 honored, 5 revered.. (Capping this at 2 also)

Disciplines

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This is the good stuff. You will get 4 to start (all chosen from your three Clan Disciplines). You can purchase more with Freebie Points (but they're expensive). And, when we determine how long you've been a vampire, you will get a certain number more to spend. (Do me a favor though, and try to stick to 3 and below to start on any one Discipline, although I could accept a single higher one potentially if it plays directly into your persona.

Your Clan Disciplines-
Auspex- A vampire with Auspex sees with the eyes of a god!
O- Heightened Senses- Doubles the range of hearing and sight. This happens at will and lasts as long as you want it to. Touch, smell and taste don't extend any further, but they are far more accute. Occasionally some vampires can even receive premonitions or flashes of empathy. This has a price. If this is active when something like a clap of thunder or a raging bonfire is heard/seen, it could actually blind or deafen you temporarily.

OO- Soulsight- Allows you to read auras that will, among other things, be able to tell you if someone is a vampire/werewolf/mage/mortal, and what mood(s) or conditions they are currently motivated by. (Fear, Lust, Depression, Love, Confusion, etc)

OOO- Spirits Touch- You can gain impressions and premonitions by handling items. "Who held this dagger last", with the more successes, the more detailed the information.

OOOO- Steal Secrets- You can speak without words or read a victims deepest fears. (mind reading). BTW, only works on vampires if you spend a willpower point. Will usually give you some impression or vision, rather than just saying "he's planning to kill Tiso Nomitus".

OOOOO- Farsight- Basically, this is Clairvoyance

Celerity- Ahh, the great equalizer.. For some Cainites, the mortal world moves in slow motion.. In times of stress, vampires with Celerity can move with amazing speed. Each point of Celerity you have allows one extra action in that round. You must spend one Blood Point per additional action you want for that round. (i.e., if you only have one point of Celerity, you can spend a Blood Point to get TWO actions that round, at the cost of one Blood Point. If you had 2 points of Celerity, you could choose to use 1 or 2, powering them with a Blood Point each, but you could have up to THREE actions that round. **Relevant** Normally, for someone to get more than one action in a round, they must SPLIT their dice pool. A vampire with Celerity gets their entire dice pool for each action.


Presence- This is the Discipline of supernatural attraction. With it, Cainites raise mobs, and sway opinions. It's subtle, and while it has disadvantages, it is one of the most useful Disciplines a vampire can have.. Some of these powers can be used on entire crowds at once. (different from Dominate in that Dominate only deals with one person at a time). Also, Presence transcends race, religion, gender, class and most importantly, generation. (some Disciplines don't work on your elders, but this one can). Presence can be resisted using Willpower points, but that's a temporary fix.

The major drawback is that it controls only the emotions. Reason and will are left intact, and you cannot give direct verbal orders to those affected (that's Dominate).

O- Awe- Very simple. Once you use this, those who are near you want to be closer to you, an intense and immediate attraction. Extremely useful in mass communication. doesn't matter what's said, the hearts of those affected will lean toward your opinion, and the strong willed will quickly find themselves outnumbered by the weak.

OO- Dread Gaze- This power engenders unbearable terror in it's victims. You basically just have to show the "mark of Caine", baring claws and or teeth, etc.. Any vampire can do this, but students of this Discipline are more insanely terrifying than mere sight can explain. Using this cows the target, reducing any dice pool by 1/success. Further, 3+ successes indicate that they run in fear. Also, can be used as an extended action to completely subjugate the target, so that they eventually just curl up on the ground and weep.

OOO- Entrancement- Turns others into your willing servants. They RETAIN THEIR CREATIVITY AND FREE WILL!! Dominate makes automatons, basically. These are more pleasant, but sometimes unpredictable. Successes dictate duration, with 1 being 1 hour, 5 being 1 year.. It makes the victim feel what they think is true and enduring devotion, and they (theoretically) heed your every desire and command (the way they see fit).

OOOO- Summon- You can call to yourself anyone you have EVER met, across ANY distance. The summoned one comes, perhaps not even knowing why, as fast as they are able. They know exactly how to find you, though not until they take each step. If the vampire moves, the summoned one goes to the new location. He is coming to YOU, not going to a specific place. (Please remember, if you summon someone to England who is in the Holy Land, it could literally take years for them to get to you, but by god, they're coming, lol.

OOOOO- Majesty- This power heightens the general Presence mystique a thousandfold. The beautiful become paralyzingly lovely, the hideous become positively demonic. You inspire respect, devotion, fear or all of the above in almost everyon who sees you. Serfs obey without thinking, free men treet you with the deference due to royalty, and royalty parley with you as an equal, at the very least. Under the power of Majesty, hearts break, power trembles and the strong-willed shake. (BTW, used this at a convention to very interesting effect. Ask me about it sometime).


NON-Clan Disciplines-

Dominate- This one is fun. With this gift, a vampire imposes his will on another, compelling them to obey comands or even re-writing their memory. Requires both eye contact and speech. **Important** It is completely impossible to Dominate anyone of a lower generation than yourself. They are completely immune. (This also means that, since you're 7th Generation, there is not an 8th+ Generation vampire on the planet that can Dominate you)

O- Observance of the Spoken Word- Think of the Command spell from D&D. A one word command which must be obeyed. You can place the word in a phrase, or even in normal conversation. As in, "I'm sorry Eric, but it's time for you to leave.

OO- Murmur of the False Will- In this case, clearly worded instructions are given to the target, who must immediately obey (alternately, you can give them instructions to be carried out later, similar to a post-hypnotic suggestion). You can give them commands, or you could even impose a concept or idea into their mind, as in "You are a brave warrior". The subject then includes this idea in their routine activities, acting on it as opportunity presents, and.. being brave.. You can only impose one set of instructions on a subject at a time. You cannot force someone to directly harm themselvees, nor can you force them to act contrary to their Nature. (You can't turn a Caregiver into a serial killer, for example).

OOO- Reveler's Memory- Remove or re-create memories. Nuff said

OOOO- Lure of Subtle Whispers- You can so thoroughly Dominate a subject so that you don't have to make eye contact or even be physically present to enforce your will. You basically create a perfectly loyal servant. however, they lose some of their creativity and imagination.

OOOOO- Vessel- Severs the soul from the body, allowing you to take over the vessel's body as though it is your own. While this power is in use the vessel is only dimly aware of the actions that her body takes, and her memories afterward have the quality of nightmares. (Think Lafayette in True Blood). Your body lies in torpor while you use this. Vampires cannot possess each other using this power.

Fortitude- Easily one of the most useful skills. This is preternatural toughness.. For each point you have in Fortitude, you get an automatic success on your rolls to soak Bashing and Lethal Damage. You can also, using ONLY your Fortitude, soak Aggravated damage from things like werewolf claws. But.. You can use Sta+Fortitude to soak damage from sunlight and fire.


Obfuscate- Another fun one! This one lets you hide or conceal yourself or your identity. (Auspex is used to see through Obfuscate, btw, if someone's Auspex is higher than your Obfuscate, they will normally see right through it).

O- Cloak of Shadows- Using shadows and concealment, you can hide yourself. You must remain under cover (sorta), though even standing behind curtains, or standing against a lamppost in a shadowy area will work. As long as you don't move, nobody will see you unless they have a higher Auspex than your Obfuscate

OO- Unseen Presence- You can move around and remain hidden. People simply ignore you, even skirting around you without realizing it. But don't call attention to yourself.

OOO- Mask of a Thousand Faces- You remain fully visable but change your appearance to fit a particular image. You can either invent an image, or make yourself look like someone. Your image doesn't actually change (that would be Viscissitude), but it's a vision superimposed over your body.

OOOO- Vanish from the Mind's Eye- You can disappear from plain sight. (generally causes quite a bit of a stir). Once you are out of sight, you can use Unseen Presence (or something else) to remain hidden or move around. (So, with this one, you can vanish right from in front of someone. With O and OO, you have to start out "hidden" and you can remain that way. With this one, you can "poof".

OOOOO- Cloak the Gathering- You can use your other Obfuscate powers on a group of people. For every dot in Stealth you possess, you can conceal an additional person.


Obtenebration- Mostly used by the Lasombra, they jealously guard this Discipline, making it difficult to obtain for non-clan members.

O- Shadow Play- You gain control over local ambient shadows. You can add a die to any Stealth or Intimidate rolls. You can also accomplish minor feats of shadowplay, including moving a persons shadow here and there, or leaving a looming shadow over another Cainites hiding place to make them think they are about to become discovered. They can also manipulate shadow so that they can see through it better. (Mortals are very disturbed by use of this power, prompting Courage rolls)

OO- Nocturne- Creates a cloud of unnatural darkness strong enough to completely obscure light and muffle sound. Does not extinguish fire, but does suppress the light completely.

OOO- Arms of Ahriman- You can turn the darkness into a weapon. You can draw tentacles from shadowed reaches and use them to attack your enemies.

OOOO- Nightshades- Simply put, this creates illusions made of shadowstuff.

OOOOO- Tenebrous Avatar- You can transform your body into an inhuman shadow.


Potence- This one is as useful as it is simple. This is Strength. For each point in Potence, you gain an automatic success on any strength check (including damage rolls). With one dot, you are basically assured to "pass" any strength check you ever take again. Now, you couldn't throw a car with 1 point of potence.. But you could sure as hell move it without a tow truck.

Protean- For millenia, Clan Gangrel kept this Discipline a secret, but others have unearthed it. Protean allows you to change your form and aid in your nightly hunting.

O- Witness of Darkness- See in the dark (but your eyes glow a visible red when you use it)

OO- Talons of the Beast- Extrude wicked claws a few inches long from your fingertips. These cause aggravated damage! Oh yes, and.. Wounds inflicted upon mortals by this power never quite heal.

OOO- Interred in the Earth- Creepy but useful. This ability allows you to slide into the earth and sleep there during the day. You can't be moved around once there, can't even be dug up. You are immaterial and merged with the soil.

OOOO- Form of the Beast- Transform into a wolf or a bat.

OOOOO- Body of Spirit- Turn yourself into mist (Gaseous Form, effectively)


Vicissitude Mostly used by the Tzimisce clan, this one scares Cainites almost as much as Dementation.

O- Malleable Visage- You can alter your own bodily parameters, height build, voice, facial features, hair, skin town, etc. Cosmetic and minor in scope, no more than a foot of height can be gained or lost. This is permanent!

OO- Transmogrify the Mortal Clay- Allows more drastic alterations, this time on others as well as yourself. Only flesh, muscle and cartilage may be transrformed at this point, not bone. Power is permanent on mortals, but vampires can spend blood points to "heal" it.

OOO- Rend the Osseus Frame- Allows you to manipulate bone in the same manner that they manipulate flesh. Enables you to warp a victim (or yourself) beyond recognition. The Tzimisce clan often use this to transform dogs and their mortal sservitors into Szlachta (monstrous war-ghouls). (Cainites wishing to "heal" these changes can do so, but the wounds act as though they are aggravated (difficult, time consuming and blood-intensive). BTW, the most fearsome attack possible with this power involves collapsing a victims ribcage, piercing her own heart with her own bones. (not that it kills vampires, but this does cause their heart to explode, taking have of their blood (aka vitae))

OOOO- Awaken the Zulo Shape Mufasa!! The vampire turns into the Zulo shape, a hideous 8 foot monstrosity increasing all Physical attributes by 3 (among other things)

OOOOO- Ascendancy of the Sanguine Humor- This one is weird. You can turn yourself into sentient vitae. You can do this all or part of yourself (each leg = 2 Blood Points, for example). It can be reconverted to the body part. If you're in this "form", you can't be staked, cut, bludgeoned or pierced (but you can be burned by fire or sun). You can move, oozing, up walls and under doors as though you were in Tenebrous Form.

Virtues

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Virtues are just what they sound like, the foundations of your characters moral outlook. Your Road lays out your sense of sin and redemption. Your Virtues underlie the road and govern how you see particularly challenging or threatening situations.. Something a bit strange.. With Virtues, if you have to make a check (because you've "sinned") and you succeed, it means that you are aware that you have sinnned, and you retain an awareness of having "failed". If you FAIL the roll, it means that your character is no longer troubled by a particular failing and this can mean the beginning of degeneration. (Yes, as you lose your morality and your humanity by the actions you take.. well, I'll let you find out, lol. )..

Conscience- Measures your commitment to the moral standards of your society. It's the extent to which you accept the tenets you grew up with, and the extent to which you feel shame for deviating from them.
O- Uncaring
OO- Typical
OOO- Ethical
OOOO- Righteous
OOOOO- Remorseful
(Please note that 2-3 is average for a MORTAL.. So if you have a Conscience of 4, it means that you are a bloodsucking predatory nightmare from hell who is actually more conscientious than most of the humans you're feeding from).

Self-Control- ***Important*** When your Blood Pool is lower than your Self-Control rating, you can only roll (A Self Control roll, that is) one die per point of blood you have.. Feeding is a very practical matter. This is how much control you have of your "Beast".. (that raving monster that craves constant violence and blood) It is your internal discipline, your ability to fight the urge to frenzy (trust me, you'll usually want to avoid frenzying, though it's going to happen from time to time). If, for example, you are completely full, sated, chock-full-o-blood.. And then someone one of your kitchen servants accidentally cuts themselves open with a knife.. This could prompt a Self-Control roll (if I'm feeling like a prick, anyway). You aren't "hungry" per se, but your instincts will tell you to feed. Self-Control is how well you resist your basest urges.

Courage- Measures the intellectual, moral and spiritual reservs that allow you to stand fast when you have the impulse to flee. Characters with high Courage still feel fear, but they're able to block it. (When confronted by Fire, the Sun, impending death, werewolves, etc, this trait helps determine.. will you frenzy? Will you run? Both? Neither?

Road

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A Road is a system of vampiric belief, the moral compass you use to deal with the Beast and preserve your sanity. This trait is from 1-10. The higher your Road rating, the more seriously you take the tenet of your beliefs, and the less prone you are to becoming a soulless monstrosity. With a higher rating, however, you become more sensitive to the sins that you must commit on a nightly basis. (Sucks, doesn't it? Low road means you're a monster, but you're on the path to damnation. A high Road rating means that you're more "ethical", but smaller and smaller "sins" will challenge you. But it's not always that cut and dried.. You'll see what I mean. (And you'll likely want to read more on Road at some point, they're pretty interesting).

Road Effects- Virtues- Whenever a certain Virtue is called into question (I make you roll a Courage Check, or a Self-Control check, for example), you may not roll more dice for the Virtue than you have dots in your Road rating. So, if you only have a Road of 2 (damn near a raging chaoshatekillbeast at that point) you can only roll 2 dice on Self Control, etc. You begin to succumb to mindless hunger and rage!

Sleeping- Vampires with higher Road ratings rise earlier in the evening than those with lower. Also, if forced to act during daylight hours,
your maximum dice pool on any action is equal to your Road rating.

Torpor- (umm, haven't covered this yet, but it's the looooooong sleeps that older Vampires go through. Think dragons. The older they get the longer they sleep? Same concept. Except other things can force you to torpor as well, including losing all of your blood). The length of time you remain in torpor (from days to centuries, technically) is based on your Road.. The lower your Road, the longer you slumber.

Aura- Each road carries an aura with it that you unconsciously project. The greater your Road rating, the stronger the aura is.. For example, followers of the Road of Kings have a certain aura of majesty around them, whereas a follower of the Road of Humanity seems more "normal", less like a creature of the night. BTW, this has little or no direct effect, it's only a vague impression. Very high or very low ratings (over 8 and below 4) impose a penalty or bonus to the difficulty of Social rolls associated with your aura, these modifiers can affect Social rolls used for Disciplines.



Road of Kings- These vampires believe that God placed vampires above humans. Cainites were the mortal herd, and had the divine right to rule. This Road tries to rule over the Beast as well as ruling over ones subjects. The Beast stands in the way of your destiny, representing all the dark impulses that drag a ruler down and lead to rebellion and betrayal. Most Princes follow this road. Strong elements of noblesse oblige in this one, with example "sins" being Neglecting your duty, breaking your word, showing weakness in front of superiors, etc.

Craig's Ghetto Vampire Sheet

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Name:
Nature:
Demeanor:
Concept:
Clan:
Generation:
Sire:
Haven

ATTRIBUTES

{table=head]Physical|Dots|Specialty|Social|Dots|Specialty|Mental|Dots|Specialty
Strength| | |Charisma| | |Perception| | |
Dexterity| | |Manipulation| | |Intelligence| | |
Stamina| | |Appearance| | |Wits| | |
[/table]

ABILITIES

{table=head]Talents|Dots|Specialty|Skills|Dots|Specialty|Knowledges|Dots|Specialty
Alertness| | |Animal Ken| | |Academics| | |
Athletics| | |Archery| | |Hearth Wisdom| | |
Brawl| | |Commerce| | |Investigation| | |
Dodge| | |Crafts| | |Law| | |
Empathy| | |Etiquette| | |Linguistics| | |
Expression| | |Melee| | |Medicine| | |
Intimidation| | |Performance| | |Occult| | |
Leadership| | |Ride| | |Politics| | |
Legerdemain| | |Stealth| | |Seneschal| | |
Subterfuge| | |Survival| | |Theology| | |

[/table]

Advantages

{table=head]Disciplines|Dots|Backgrounds|Dots|Virtues/Health|Dots
||||Conscience||
||||Self-Control||
||||Courage||
||||Bruised||
||||Hurt (-1)||
||||Injured (-1)||
||||Wounded (-2)||
||||Mauled (-2)||
||||Crippled (-5)||
||||Incapacitated||

[/table]

{table=head]Other|Dots
Road||
Perm Willpower
Temp Willpower
Blood Pool
[/table]

[pife]

Reserved for ST

Uses for the Blood

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Waking

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Spend 1 BP when you awaken each night

Healing

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Spend 1 BP to heal a level of bashing or lethal damage. This is a free action if you aren't doing anything else (a slow walk or horseback ride works too), but running and fighting aren't. You must roll Sta+Survival (diff 8) after spending the blood. If you fail, the blood is wasted, and if you botch.. Well. don't do that, it's messy.

Physical Augmentation-

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Spend 1 BP to raise a Physical attribute by 1 for the duration of the scene. (Note: A "scene" is just like in a play. It could represent seconds, or it could represent days. A fight would be a scene, as would a meeting with the Prince, as would the journey over the river and through the woods to grandmothers house (unless a meeting, discussion, fight, etc broke out on the way, at which point that would start a new scene)).

You must declare that you're doing it at the start of your turn, but it's a free action. You can spend as many BP as you are allowed per your veneration (again, for you that's 2/rd at 9th gen), but you can raise each physical attribute to only ONE higher than your generation allows. (Your generation allows you to have attributes of 6, so you could boost your strength to a 7 for a single scene. You CAN pump it higher than that, (up to 10 total dots), but the excess only lasts for 3 turns (rounds) after you stop "pumping".

Doing this may produce peculiar manifestations. For instance, Blood boosted Stamina may include very noticeable changes when you taking damage, with tissues leaping closed and fountains of vitae coating burns and scars.

Feeding Others

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Bite/Cut yourself in order to allow others to drink. Vampires drink this and add it to their Blood Pool (In Vampire, EVERYONE is a cleric, lol), mortals become ghouls (human or animal), more on them later if you're interested.

Masquerading

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Spend a variable number of BP to hide the consequences of vampirism, warmed skin and breath, softened complexion, etc. A vampire may pass as human in all physical ways for a scene. Requires 8 minus your Self-Control BP (if you were on the Road of Humanity, this would only be 6 minus Self-Control).

Using Disciplines

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Many Disciplines require an expenditure of at least one BP to power the effect

Road of Kings

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As I was doing more thinking and reading on this, I realized what an interesting fit it is. First, the "Hierarchy of Sins" for the Road of Kings. What this means is that, under normal circumstances, if you violate any of the concepts "at" or "below" your Road Rating (Currently 7), you will have to make a roll to determine if you degenerate (lose a point in your Road rating). Among other (mostly minor) things, your Road rating determines how early and how easily you wake, how long you stay in involuntary torpor, and occasionally, it will (negatively) modify some die rolls if the rating falls low enough. That's the trouble with having this ravening Beast in you.. Occasionally, it will force or encourage you to break the precepts of your Road, which can eventually have a deleterious effect on your efforts.

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10- Neglecting your duty
9- Treating a peer with disrespect
8- Treating an inferior like an equal
7- Breaking your word to a peer
6- Behaving shamefully in front of peers
5- Showing weakness in front of inferiors
4- Failing to answer a challenge to your honor
3- Treating superiors disrespectfully
2- Breaking your word to your superiors
1- Breaking a sworn oath

This Road utilizes noblesse oblige liberally. According to the Road of Kings, there are only two roles in life; master and servant. You are superior to mortals, made to rule. To master others, you must master yourself and your Beast. Only those who seize power gain it, and only those who use power keep it. Your word is your bond, for without it, you are nothing.

Most Cainite courts are set up in a manner pleasing to the adherents of the Road of Kings, though numerous Princes who do not follow this road exist. A feudal hierarchy exists among the Cainites of Venice, with the Prince having named three Dukes, who in turn each have three Barons, who in turn have a variable (and changing) number of vassal knights. (By the way, this doesn't exactly belong in the Road discussion, but it was relevant, so I added it here. I will also mention this in a more appropriately titled section elsewhere, as well as have more detailed descriptions of the major Cainites in and around Venice..

Notes and Thoughts on Alonzo

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Some Comments or Details

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With your 4 points of Auspex, whoo.. Remember, you don't normally have that "on" constantly, or you'd blind yourself every time you turned on the light, (an exaggeration, but you know what I mean). Loud noises, bright lights, strong odors, these can all cause problems to the "tuned in" vampire. That being said, your ability is so strong that there is very little you can't "notice" when using it. Two rules that make your life easier. (You lower your difficulties for Perception rolls by your Auspex rating. And, if the difficulty for a check is lower than the number of dice that you have to roll, it's effectively an auto-success. So, between your 4 points of Auspex reducing difficulties (most average difficulties are 6, lowered to 2, auto-success since you have 4 dice to roll), PLUS your Acute Sight and Hearing Merits, (lol, overkill much?), if it has to do with what you see/hear, virtually NOTHING escapes you. Auspex can also give flashes of insight, almost a preternatural warning, from time to time, so occasionally you may have visions/dreams, etc.

3 points of Celerity makes you more than a match for most Kindred. 3 Melee and 3 Firearms, combined with good Dex/Str abilities.. You're going to be hard to beat in a fight. It will burn through your Blood quickly, especially if you're maxing your celerity each round and potentially "pumping" your physical traits, but Alonzo is noone to mess with.

Something I noticed.. Choosing the Road of Kings changes one more thing about your character. Your Conscience trait changes to a trait called Conviction. (Effectively the same thing, but instead of measuring your commitment to the moral standards of society via your conscience, you have actively rejected them. Instead, the Road of Kings tells you that you are superior, and that you are born to lead, and.. largely.. that humans are food, but they are food that requires your adroit leadership. Sin, as it pertains to someone with Conviction, is less a touchy feely "that wasn't nice" emotion, and more of a failure to meet your goals. At a 7 on your road, you haven't quite reached the point (8) when it becomes a "sin" to treat an inferior like an equal, so you can still have "friends" from other social classes without it affecting you, but you're well down the path to detachment.

Clan Toreador in Venice:

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At 19 Kindred, the Toreador Clan has the advantage of numbers, at least among those Cainites that are known of.

Margherita Satorino

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Your sire. Margherita was born in the late 260's (A.D.), a wealthy patricians daughter. She was actually the director of social events for Maximian, co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. She held that post from the mid 290's and remained with Maximian (some say as a lover) after he stepped down and retired to his expansive villa in Dalmatia. Now, in Venice, (and as a Cainite), Margherita fills a similar role for the Prince of Venice. She is basically a social director, party planner, etc. Known for having a keen eye for detail, and a chameleon-like ability to fit in with virtually anyone, Margherita is renowned for her splendid affairs, often dipping into her own deep pockets when adding that "perfect" detail.

A master of planning and negotiations, there are many who say that, were she born a man, she would have been one of the finest generals the Empire had ever seen. A stickler for details and logistics, she is in a position to know most of what happens in Venice, and uses that information to build her personal "empire".

Reminiscent of Rome, she wishes for another Empire to rise (preferably Roman, as everyone else is far too uncultured to rule the world), but knows that she is not willing or able to attempt to bring it about.

She has taken you into her bed before, sometimes willingly, sometimes having to compel you. While your early years saw you gorging on her blood as often as anyone elses, you have "weaned" yourself from that particular behavior for the most part. As her trust for you grew, and honestly, her interest in you sexually waned, you were required to partake of the Blood Oath less and less. At present, you have not tasted her blood in over a decade, though she teases you regularly about it. If you're honest with yourself, you can admit that.. the more you DIDN'T want to go to her bed, the more she enjoyed it.

She doesn't require much of you these days. Any "event" she plans, you are of course required to attend, but that's only several times in any given year. Beyond that, she spends many of her evenings in Elysium, and can effectively be called a Harpy, with her connections and opinions being deemed relevant to one's social standing.

Margherita specializes in planting informants within the ranks of servants. She doesn't believe in directly controlling a noble (seeing that as somehow contrary to her moral code), but has no qualms about influencing those same nobles, usually from within their own power structures. She also has a special relationship with many of the "other" nightwalkers of Venice, the ladies of the night. On any given night, some of her finest "blood dolls" are available and on display at her manor. Very protective of these favorites, she only allows any of them to be "damaged" or killed when she is especially happy or desperate to gain something. (In general, if you show up at Margherita's home while she is there, the manners of a good hostess will require that she ask after refreshments for you.. And in Margherita's house, the refreshments are superb)

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Jacopo Barilla, Lucrezia Ronzoni & Marsilio Fonzerelli

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Jacopo is of the 7th Generation, and is the oldest Cainite in Venice. Jacopo was a Senator in the late Roman Empire, having been Embraced in Rome in the year 52 A.D. Spoiled, affluent, and completely detached. He owns more than half of the shipbuilding capacity in Venice, and is a major patron of the arts. He sponsors sculptors and purchases many of their commissions for placement around his villas (he has several)

He has one surviving childe (there have been others, including one that was killed recently in a duel) Lucrezia Ronzoni, a fabulously beautiful and talented singer (She's still active. Opera won't exist for a couple more centuries, but music was very popular, and Venice was one of it's strongholds). Lucrezia herself has a childe, one Marsilio Fonzerelli. They are lovers, attached at the hip (the mouth is more honest). He is the most exquisite and sought after nude model in Venice. Business is booming for him, and he not only stands for sculptors and painters himself, he has begun acting as an agent for other young hopefuls.

Jacopo Barilla

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Lucrezia Ronzoni


Marsilio Fonzerelli

Zand Farrekhzad and Viktoriya Yorich

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Zand is Persian, and also of the 7th Generation, but was an older man (mid 50's) when Embraced around 700 AD. In life, and even currently, Zand is an architect, and specializes in stonework with hidden passages and mechanics. It is rare that he takes a commission these days, only being affordable by the nobility, who know him only as "the Builder". He is very serious and intense, almost unsmiling. He has a temper. His childe, Viktoriya Yorich is a Russian beauty. (to your knowledge, she has no exemplary skills other than being beautiful and diverting). She is a major patron in an underground gladiatorial combat enterprise, being surprisingly bloodthirsty and vicious herself.

Zand (in center)

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Viktoriya Yorich

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Bernaldo Nunez and Matteo Pappardelli

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Bernaldo, of the 9th Generation is from Portugal originally, and is a relative newcomer to Venice, having only been here for a few years. His fortune is in mercenaries, and he personally sponsors and hires out several companies. His passion is wine, specifically, wine laced blood. He has a huge "herd" of prime "vintage carriers", whom he has been known to compare to the particular "barrels" that traditional wine is made in. His childe Matteo Pappardelli is a superlative fencer and one of the deadliest blades in Venice. He is newly made, less than a year Embraced, and was a gift to Bernaldo from the Prince as a reward for services rendered.

Bernaldo Nunez


Matteo

Zhi Liang

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Zhi is the agent for an influential Ventrue in Florence. You think he might be of the 11th Generation. He imports a lot of foreign art and ships it to Florence.

Christopher Lawrence

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Christopher is.. was.. a painter, and indisputably talented. His sire embraced him so that he could become the greatest artist in the world. Unfortunately, when she was killed a few years ago, his inspiration died with her. Instead, he now finds new talent and sponsors them, rather than painting himself. Likely of the 9th Generation

Isabel de Fleurigny, Loreen Miskov and Pierandrea Abbascilla

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Newly arrived from France, this 10th Generation enigma is very mysterious. She's fabulously wealthy, and has been buying up properties all over town. Her eldest childe, Loreen Miskov, came with her. Loreen was a courtesan in the court of Phillip II in the mid 1200's. Exquisitely lovely, and a fascinating conversationalist. Her second childe, Pierandrea Abbascilla was just accidentally made without permission, and was a common whore. Prince Yasmin has forgiven her, your sources tell you, because of an exceptionally generous "donation" to her pet cause, which is, herself.

Isabel -

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Loreen Miskov

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Pierandrea Abbascilla

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Minor Toreador in Venice

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Hirbod Parsi

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Another Persian man, this one of the 11th Generation you believe. He is a patron of many arts, but music is his weakness, especially that of his homeland.

Paula Bellandi

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Of the 13th Generation, if gossip is to be believed, Paula is a native Venetian, and runs a troupe of players and acrobats, though it seems to be a secret who her Sire is, as there are no 12th Generation Kindred known to be in Venice. She's known for "overdoing it" and losing control in a flurry of bloodlust.

Piero Bencivenni

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A Friar of the Church, and likely of the 12th Generation he is a scholar of occult lore in the basements of the San Lorenzo church, where Marco Polo is entombed. He is nearly never seen outside of his library.

Anahita Avesta

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Definitely of the 13th Generation (you were friendly with her now-deceased Sire, a kind and generous gentleman), Anahita is very religious, and has recently taken over a small nunnery, though for what purpose, you cannot say.

Viktor Cruz

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Also of the 13th Generation, but from Spain, Viktor was a young soldier in the 4th Crusade. He is over 200 years old, and is the result of a series of sires who Embraced large numbers of cannon fodder.

Important Cainites in Venice

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Prince Yasmin Jahandar

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Prince: Yasmin Jahandar-7th Generation-Persian- Voluptuous and attractive, but not beautiful, Yasmin spent much of her unlife in Constantinople, moving to Venice sometime in the 1200's. Known to turn on her allies to save her own skin, Yasmin is not popular. A devout Atheist, she has recently fallen out of favor because of her role in the "Daystakings", a week long assault on the Kindred of Venice in 1491. (20% of the Cainite population perished, all told). A militant band of knights surprised and overpowered her not long into her reign, and she made an unholy deal to purchase her release. 30 Kindred (mostly neonates created solely for the purpose, but a few Elders were "accidentally" included as well)staked in their sleep and dragged out into the daylight to roast. Since then, Yasmin has been able to neutralize the knights, killing some, and recruiting the rest into becoming the cadre of a ghoul legion personally beholden to her. This does not sit well with the Primogen, and the other Lasombra in Venice are said to be gnashing their teeth as well.. privately, of course. In addition to granting unusually lenient permissions at recent Council meetings, attempting to secure favor with generosity, the remaining 8 Knights of the Sable Rose remain a wild card. Known to be extremely efficient killers that use coordinated attacks to confuse, isolate and eradicate their foes quickly and brutally. They are apparently loyal to Yasmin, and they might be the thread holding her there.






Prince's Knights

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The Primogen

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Amegran- Brujah - 7th Generation - Moorish -

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An angry scholar who wants to remove the churches influence, so that men of science can work in peace. A master engineer and stonemason, it was he that conceived and built The Redoubt, a massive underground complex sunk deep under his hilltop manor. He ceded his home to the Princes of Venice, current and future. It is in this place that most major events occur, far beneath the ground, beyond the prying eyes of mortals. It is said to be virtually impregnable when manned and defended.

Francisco Caravello - Cappodocian- 8th Generation - Italian -

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An elderly man, Francisco was the premier medical practitioner of his age, having been a personal physician of Roman Emperor Anthemius in the 460's. Taken by the Cappadocians to further their knowledge of human physiology, Francisco still arranges for his discoveries to be circulated to mortal physicians.

Irmele Piber - Lasombra - 7th Generation - Germanic -

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A rare Germanic Lasombra, Irmele shares a sire with Yasmin. Irmele is quietly very disappointed in the Prince and it is rumored that she is gathering evidence of Yasmin's incompetence

Mahmoud Hooshang - Malkavian - 8th Generation - Persian - Calls himself by the nonsense title "Yawakei" Mahmoud. Spends most nights reading omens for people. Has an amazing reputation.. because he reads their minds and sees what they want, then he goes and makes it happen. Anyone who goes to him for a second time pays in blood, not coin. If Yawakei Mahmoud deems the request "wicked", the omen will still come true, but the petitioner will end up dead within a year (the fine print). If the request is of "divine" worth, Yawakei Mahmoud will make the omen come true, and then kill one of the petitioners enemies for them. Anyone coming to Yawakei Mahmoud for a third time is killed and eaten. Oh yes, occasionally he thinks he's god.. It's been deemed wise not to try to convince him otherwise.



Clare - Nosferatu - 8th Generation - Germanic -

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Once a slave between rival barbarian bands, Clare was used as a plaything. Her eternally 11 year old body is a putrid wasteland of oozing bruises, boils and sores. Now, she craves playthings of her own. Claer goes to incredible lengths to stage elaborate (yet plausible) "accidents" against those she opposes. She rules over the Venetian Nosferatu with an iron fist (backed up by her incongruously immense physical strength) No Nosferatu in Venice will sell any information unless the request comes from one who is "favored of Clare". This "esteemed" status can be gained by giving Clare a "present and a story". That present is some abuser, some bully of women. They must be presented to Clare, along with a telling of their misdeeds. The more Clare enjoys the story, the greater your favor. Probably the most informed Cainite in Venice, but tight with her secrets. It is believed that noone has ever gotten to the truth when Clare wants it hidden.

Delphi - Tremere - 9th Generation - Greek -

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Delphi advises Baldemarus (the head of the Tremere Chantry in Venice), and advocates for his clans rights at all meetings. He attempts to bring one "free" piece of news or information to each meeting, as Clan Tremere's "homage" to the Prince.

Vasile Petrescu - Tzimisce - 7th Generation - Hungarian -

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Vasile and his entourage of younger Tzimisce care for the needs of Vasile's Sire, Collette de Carnavelt. While she cannot be bothered to personally attend any Council meetings, she will occasionally comply with the Prince's carefully worded requests. (300 years ago, Collette slaughtered the Prince of Venice and his entire Primogeniture, merely for the offense of starting the council meeting without her.. She could have seized the Princedom at that time, but she just couldn't be bothered. ).. Vasile and his fellows despise the Tremere, and oppose them at every turn, declaiming them as usurpers, charlatans and frauds. (it gets rather tiresome, actually. but, as long as Vasile is allowed to vent his spleen, Collette refrains from dismantling large portions of the city with her vohzd. (massive war-ghouls made up of multiple "donors". Truth be known, there are three types of people in Venice. Those who are afraid of Collette, those who LIE about being afraid of Collette, and those who don't know who Collette is.

Vasile


Colette

Don Antonio Castaneda - Ventrue - 8th Generation - Spanish - Don Antonio is the genteel leader of the Ventrue of Venice. Polished and polite, Don Antonio is very approachable, and respectful of other cultures. Don Antonio, and the Ventrue at large, like doing favors for people. If you need a loan, or a friendly voice on the Doge's Council, the Ventrue are usually there to lend their aid, for a price to be negotiated later.

Other Important Venetian Cainites

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Vittorio Fellini - Brujah - 6th Generation - Italian - Spends much of his time in Torpor. Hails from around 300 BC (so he's over 1800 years old), he is likely the oldest Cainite in Venice. Very erratic and unpredictable, doesn't like rules, (think Russell Edgington from True Blood) and absolutely HATES when Rome (the city, the empire, etc) is mentioned. When Vittorio is awake, the murder rate in Venice spikes. Not only is he voracious by himself, he enjoys inciting huge melees by messing with peoples emotions. More than one miniature war has erupted on the docks between the sailors of two allied ships. Has a very clearly defined set of personal "laws". Basically, that means that he will support the Prince in enforcing any law that the Prince sees fit, so long as none of the laws apply to Vittorio. There's a double-standard there, but Vittorio really couldn't care less. This vampire is angry. All. The. Time.



Bjorn Suffiskson - Brujah - 8th Generation - Nordic -

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Warmaster of Venice - Bjorn maintains a force of ghouls who lead the princes forces in combat. Seems completely loyal to Yasmin. People suspect the Blood Oath. (Bjorn is the childe of Amegran)

Wang Mang - Caitiff - 10th Generation - Chinese - Runs a crew of burglars who typically steal from docked ships. A very traditional Chinese, bells, incense, opium, Mogwai, all that jazz.

Sir Rogerus d'Ambly - Caitiff - 10th Generation -

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Sir Rogerus was a disgraced knight in the English Court. Now known to be very courageous, very lusty, and very "for hire". Very polite and humble before his betters. Doesn't step outside the lines of good taste. (does like deflowering nuns, but that's on his own time).

Abascantas - Cappodocian - 11th Generation - Your Mentor -

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Abascantas was a Greek scholar and physician. Despite his high Generation, he is over 800 years old, from Byzantine Greece. He studies death, near death experiences, biology, etc. Knows more about poison and disease and their effects on mortal physiology than any Cainite in Venice. Abascantas is a pale, wispy haired man of middle years, with a healthy paunch, and his two front bottom teeth missing.

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Gbemisola - Cappodocian - 12th Generation - African - Gbemisola is creepy. Has a fascination with the dead, and finds morbid scenes uproariously funny. Rumor has it, his romantic interests lie with the dismembered pieces of his practical jokes. (most other Cappodocians are appalled by his behavior)




Venerio lo Grato - Gangrel - 6th Generation - Pirate - Captain of the "Bloodletter", a feared galley that is only seen at night. (this is by intent, if another ship spots them during daylight hours, the Bloodletter gives chase and sends every man to their deaths.). The entire ship is crewed by ghouls (plus Gasparo Bianchi, also a Gangrel, of 10th Generation and is Venerio's first mate). The ship has been modified for their use. Venerio has a deal with Prince Yasmina, and only attacks NON-Venetian ships, and only after they have left the docks of venice (no incoming laden vessels). This causes hell for the foreign merchants getting robbed or killed on the return trip, and the mortal authorities are pulling their hair about it.



Gianfrancesco Conti - Lasombra - 8th Generation - Seneschal - Gianfrancesco is something like Prince Yasmina's right hand. Speaks for her when she is not present. He is also her lover, her biggest advocate, and her childe. Knows almost all illicit activity in the city. He's still performing damage control for his Sire's reputation



Luis de Morales - Lasombra - 10th Generation -

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Grandchilde of Gianfrancesco. A Spanish aristocrat, Luis is attempting to garner support for a Kindred knightly order, with himself as it's head.

Omid Mokri - Malkavian - 9th Generation - Persian - Keeper - Omid is one part jester, one part soothsayer, and three parts crazy. Yasmina keeps him on her court, if only to keep him in her sight. Gives mass to empty churches on many nights, burns incense, "summons spirits".. Has correctly predicted two assassination attempts on Yasmina though, so she listens to everything he says, then filters it for sanity.

Dixus Petit - Nosferatu - 8th Generation - French - Scourge - The Scourge is a position within the Princes Court. It belongs to a person whose job and duty it is to enforce the Princes will (especially when the Prince can't be seen getting their hands dirty). The "sheriff" upholds the laws, in service to the Prince. The Scourge, on the other hand, is more likely to be outside the law, but also in service to the Prince. He is a behemoth of a Frenchman, having been a stonecutter by trade, and is immensely strong. Spends most of his time hunting for anarchs and usurpers, Ravnos and Baali. But mostly, he looks for dirt on the Princes enemies. Dixus is not popular among Venice's Cainites, but he is very loyal to Yasmina. Cadaverously thin, with horribly distended lips and fangs so large as to be almost comical. (normally, anyone Dixus feeds from dies from the massive wounds he causes).

Ogechi - Nosferatu - 11th Generation -

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You were present when Ogechi was made. A former African slave killed in a werewolf attack on a mainland town church. Ogechi was the indentured servant of the town magistrate, and was an excellent source of information . Specifically, he was an informant of Ige, another African Nosferatu in Venice. You came with a force of Cainites on the former Prince's orders (the former Prince was an extremely well thought of Ventrue, a unifier, well respected by almost all) to repel a werewolf attack on a town loyal to the Prince. Ogechi was found near death, and Ige Embraced him in a moment of impulse.

Ikenna - Followers of Set - 8th Generation - Ethiopian - Absolutely stunning. Seems to know when people are looking for her (the Followers of Set, among other things, like to encourage dark and dangerous hobbies, pasttimes, lusts, etc). She always appears unexpectedly. Noone has ever survived an attempt to track her back to her haven.



Baldemarus - Tremere - 9th Generation - Head of Clan Tremere in Venice. A blood-scholar of Celtic origin, pagan. Very mysterious, very hard to find, but the most accomplished Tremere in 500 miles.


Not a Vampire. This is the man that is trying to kill you..

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Library of Faces

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Effects of Vampire Blood on Mortals

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A living mortal, if fed vitae, becomes instantly "ghouled". They stop aging at the cellular level, and will not age a biological day as long as they are fed Kindred vitae. Ghouls are still living beings, and heal at the natural rate. However, they are capable of utilizing their ingested vitae as Kindred do, to regenerate wounds more quickly than nature would normally permit. This even extends to the regeneration of severed limbs, provided enough vitae (a lot) is available.

So, if fed vitae while even the slightest spark of life remains, a mortal becomes a ghoul. If fed enough vitae (more than one point would be a start), she could (and would) begin regenerating, her bodies automatic processes being enhanced exponentially. A ghoul can also learn Disciplines. By nature of the blood, all ghouls receive a Potence score of 1. They can learn almost any Discipline, given time (and xp), but they find the "physical" Disciplines (Celerity/Potence/Fortitude) easier to learn than the more esoteric ones.

If the mortal is dead, however, and fed Vitae, a Childe is created, of your Clan and one Generation higher (weaker) than yourself. This is a HUGE breach of the Third Tradition. To quote it, "If thou creates another without thine elder's (meaning the Prince) leave, both thou and thy progeny shall be slain". So, pretty serious stuff.

Creating a ghoul without permission is also frowned upon, but Margherite would be the only authority you would need to create one or two, in most cases. The Prince does not allow large private "armies" of ghouls, (reserving the right herself to do so, however) but most Kindred have at least one. The penalty for creating ghouls without permission can vary wildly, depending on the situation. If you created a ghoul that somehow threatened the secret of the existence of Kindred, they would not be amused, and repercussions could be fatal. Finding out you ghouled someone to be your daytime agent, or protector, or even lover, would normally receive much less attention and would be localized with your Sire rather than any greater body.

Let me know if you have any questions, this is really just a high level overview.

[Erasmas]

Reserved for me!

Alonzo da Catalano

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Name: Alonzo da Catalano
Nature: Monster (Silent Killer variant)
Demeanor: Gallant
Concept: Aristocratic Assassin
Clan: Tareador
Generation: 9th
Sire: Margherita Satorino
Haven: Villa da Catalano

ATTRIBUTES
{table=head]Physical|Dots|Specialty|Social|Dots|Specialty|Mental|Dots|Specialty
Strength|●●●●○|Strong Grip|Charisma|●●●●●|Captivating|Perception|●●●●○|K een-eyed|
Dexterity|●●●●●|Surefooted|Manipulation|●●●●●●|Smo oth|Intelligence|●●●○○| |
Stamina|●●●○○| |Appearance|●●●○○| |Wits|●●●●○|Combat Nerves|
[/table]

ABILITIES
{table=head]Talents|Dots|Specialty|Skills|Dots|Specialty|Knowledges|Dots|Specialty
Alertness|●●●○○| |Animal Ken|○○○○○| |Academics|●●○○○| |
Athletics|●●●○○| |Archery|●●○○○| |Hearth Wisdom|●○○○○| |
Brawl|●●●○○| |Commerce|●○○○○| |Investigation|●●●●○|Shadowing|
Dodge|●●●○○| |Firearms|●●●○○| |Law|●●○○○| |
Empathy|●○○○○| |Etiquette|●●●○○| |Linguistics|○○○○○| |
Expression|●●○○○| |Melee|●●●○○| |Medicine|○○○○○| |
Intimidation|●●○○○| |Performance|●○○○○| |Occult|○○○○○| |
Leadership|○○○○○| |Ride|●●●○○| |Politics|●●○○○| |
Legerdemain|●●○○○| |Stealth|●●●●●|Hunt|Seneschal|●●○○○| |
Subterfuge|●●●○○| |Survival|●●○○○| |Theology|○○○○○| |
[/table]

Advantages
{table=head]Disciplines|Dots|Backgrounds|Dots|Virtues/Health|Dots
Auspex|●●●●○|Allies|●●○○○|Conviction|●●●○○
Celerity|●●●○○|Contacts|○○○○○|Self-Control|●●●●○
Presence|●●●●○|Domain|●○○○○|Courage|●●●●○
Dominate|●●○○○|Generation|●●●○○|Bruised|
Obfuscate|●●●○○|Herd|○○○○○|Hurt (-1)|
Obtenebration|●●○○○|Influence|○○○○○|Injured (-1)|
Protean|●○○○○|Mentor|●○○○○|Wounded (-2)|
Vicissitude|●○○○○|Resources|○○○○○|Mauled (-2)|
|○○○○○|Retainers|○○○○○|Crippled (-5)|
|○○○○○|Status|●○○○○|Incapacitated|
[/table]

{table=head]Other|Dots
Road of Kings|●●●●●●●○○○
Perm Willpower|●●●●●●●●○○
Temp Willpower|●●●●●●●●○○
Blood Pool|
[/table]

Merits (-11):
Prestigious Sire (1)
Acute Sense [Sight] (1)
Acute Sense [Hearing] (1)
Reputation (2)
Nobility (1)
Manse (2)
Sanguine Humor (2)
Code of Honor (1)

Flaws (+10):
Ward [] (3)
Hunted [] (4)
Compulsion [] (1)
Prey-Exclusion [children] (1)
Overconfident (1)

I think I would like more information on the Lasombra, Toreador, and the Assamites (I know you said you didn't like them, but they seem like they might match an assassin character really well), please!

Alright... the Assamites have some really cool disciplines, but I definitely don't want the kind of trouble that they come with (from the sound of it). Instead, I think I will play one of the Toreador. But I can still take things like Obfuscate and Quietus, correct (just at a higher 'price')?

[pife]

Obfuscate, yes no problem. Quietus.. would require a very unlikely turn of events. The Assamites do not share that Discipline with anyone. So, if that was ever to have happened, it would be the culmination of a long and complex quest.

Toreador it is!

[Erasmas]

Okay, cool! And maybe I will just have to track me down an Assamite and force him to teach it to me.

[Erasmas]

I think my sire still lives within the city and we get along well enough, but have our own "circles" that may overlap more than I might like. I think she should be female and made me because she was taken with me (at the time) and wanted to keep me around (as well as 'young and beautiful' forever). But, the allure of newness eventually wore off and she moved on to sire others in the same manner. I think the fact that I am doing somewhat well for myself and have many lovers could make a ping of jealousy rise in her from time to time... but she never wants to outwardly admit it. And I go to her when I need her assistance/protection/guidance/etc... but refuse to bed her again (though maybe it has been commanded once or twice since).

How does that sound?

[pife]

BTW, a Toreador-assassin is not unreasonable.. First, their ability with Celerity makes them very potent, Auspex makes it easier to track their prey, and Presence can help in any number of ways, including using it to get past your target's guards..

I will put together a post on Disciplines shortly..

Quick Note: Most of the attributes on your character sheet are on a 1-5 "dot" scale.. Really need to send you a character sheet, but they're available online for review (just make sure you look at Old World of Darkness Vampire sheet, rather than New World of Darkness).. Anyway, so 1 Dot of Strength means that you're a 98 lb weakling, and 5 makes you Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Yes, it can go higher for supernaturals.. Hulk would be about a 15-20 on this scale)

You will receive 5 Dots to spend on Disciplines (split between Presence, Celerity and Auspex). You will also receive additional "freebie points" to spend on your character, and you can choose to improve Disciplines you already have, or gain new Disciplines. Once the game starts, though, you'll have to have someone actually "teach" you a new discipline. (Your point about "making" an Assamite teach you Quietus comes to mind).

We've already determined that you're not starting as a neonate, but I haven't decided how many additional points to grant you yet, but you'll be able to spread them to your taste.

[pife]

I think my sire still lives within the city and we get along well enough, but have our own "circles" that may overlap more than I might like. I think she should be female and made me because she was taken with me (at the time) and wanted to keep me around (as well as 'young and beautiful' forever). But, the allure of newness eventually wore off and she moved on to sire others in the same manner. I think the fact that I am doing somewhat well for myself and have many lovers could make a ping of jealousy rise in her from time to time... but she never wants to outwardly admit it. And I go to her when I need her assistance/protection/guidance/etc... but refuse to bed her again (though maybe it has been commanded once or twice since).

How does that sound?

Very interesting!! Okay, now.. Something you didn't know, lol.. (there's lots of that at this point)..

The Blood Bond

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I have emailed you greater details, but the basic idea is this. If you drink any particular vampires blood three times (meaning three separate occasions), you will become "Blood Bound" to them. You've seen True Blood? "As your maker I forbid you" type stuff? Well, it's actually the Blood Bond, not the fact that they are someone's maker, that causes that.. It is possible (though unlikely) that an individual vampire HASN'T partaken of their sires blood at least three times. I'll leave this up to you. Also, if the most recent of those drinks was years ago, the Bond will have weakened somewhat

[Erasmas]

Perfect!

I will definitely have been Bonded to her... though I think that the last time I drank might have been a decade or two prior (probably the last time that I was 'seduced' and bedded by her) - I see this relationship almost like an "ex that I am on decent terms with" kind of thing.

And... I am totally picturing Monica Bellucci for my sire! Lemme know if this works.

Spoiler

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[pife]

Sure.. She can even dress like that if you prefer..

[Erasmas]

Works for me! Elegance to the point of tacky kind of defines the Italian Renaissance.


Oh, also... what are the weaknesses in this rendition of vampires? Sunlight, garlic, fire, holy water, etc.?

[pife]

Sunlight and Fire, definitely. (indeed, these two things can cause you to Frenzy or Rotschreck, more to come on those later). Garlic, running water, needing an invitation to enter, holy water, and crucifixes are all irrelevant to most vampires. (Though you can choose to be vulnerable to these in exchange for more freebie points to spend elsewhere, but more on that later). Also, all vampires (except Lasombra) give off a reflection in mirrors.

However, True Faith trumps all. Someone with True Faith presenting a crucifix can do you some harm. Same thing with holy water, if the person using it has True Faith. Heck, someone with True Faith making a cross with their fingers can still affect you.

Stakes- Unlike other vampire lore, stakes do NOT kill vampires in this game. A stake through the heart, however, does PARALYZE the vampire until the stake is removed. Say a vampire gets staked to the wall during a fight. 50 years later, the body has all crumbled to dust, but the stake is still in the wall.. If the stake is removed, the vampire is reconstituted, (but after 50 years with no food, he'll definitely be in Frenzy and it will be a bad day for anyone there with him).

There are three types of damage in the game. Bashing, Lethal, and Aggravated. BTW, all healing requires an expenditure of blood. 1 for 1 for bashing and lethal, more details on healing aggravated wounds later. You can do it without effort if you are standing still and not doing anything else, but if you want to say, heal during a fight, you will have to make a roll to do so.

Bashing- Fists, clubs, short falls, and, for Vampires, bullets, are considered bashing damage. You have the ability to "soak" bashing and lethal damage, based on your Stamina, meaning that it would be very difficult for you to ever lose a boxing match, for instance. And bullets are only really dangerous to you if they hit you in the head (the damage is lethal then) Oh, and when a vampire takes bashing damage, you roll the damage, "soak", what you can, and then the remainder is halved. It's good to be dead.

Lethal- Knives, spears, swords, extremely long falls.. These are lethal damage. Still not too much of a threat to a Cainite, but it adds up.

Aggravated- This is where things get nasty.. Sunlight, Fire, Werewolf Claws, Vampire Fangs, getting put into a wood chipper.. These are aggravated damage, and even vampires have trouble with it. Healing aggravated damage takes time, and a LOT of blood.

[Erasmas]

Makes good sense!

I think I will take the 'has to be invited in' weakness. It should work nicely with my character (hopefully I can get some sort of 'charm' ability).

[pife]

We'll hold off on that (invited in) for now. Selecting Merits/Flaws is one of the last things we'll do for chargen, and there's a pretty extensive list of them, so you'll want to take a good look at them. And, come to think of it, I don't think that IS a flaw, but if you want it for flavor, we'll put it in, no worries. (Many of the vulnerabilities that the common man believes about vampires have actually been spread by the vampires themselves. "Look, a reflection see!! I can't be a vampire".. "I can cross running water, see!". "I can hold a crucifix", "I love garlic"! etc. )

I still need to look for an online character sheet (don't think Mythweavers supports old world of darkness anymore),

Oh, I still owe you a list of disciplines, but before we go there.. I have something else for you. (I will be putting it in the first post, titled "Nature and Demeanor".

[pife]

Okay, at the bottom of the Original Post is my craptastic attempt at a character sheet, lol. Take a look and let me know what you think. See if it makes sense, or if you can think of any improvements.

Oh, and feel free to either use OOOO (O's) to show the dots, or you can just put in the number. (Strength OOOO vs Strength 4)

Remember, that for the Attributes, you start with one dot in each. Select Primary/Secondary/Tertiary (Physical/Mental/Social), and then distribute 7, 5, and 3 dots respectively.

For your Abilities, select Pri/Sec/Ter, and split 13/9/5 among them. (Please feel free to ask for elaboration on any skill you aren't familiar with, or want to know how it pertains. ) Please don't give yourself anything 5+ at this point (we will be adding additional Freebie Points as well as giving you a certain amount when we figure out exactly how old you are. It will be at that point that you can give yourself 5's and above.

I will edit the first post to enter Backgrounds (there aren't as many of those as there are Natures/Demeanors, so it'll fit in the OP. You will be able to spend 5 points on Backgrounds. (And then we'll get to Disciplines, Road, Virtues, Blood Pool, Willpower, etc). And for the record, personally, I think that Backgrounds are some of the more interesting abilities. They are very cheap to purchas (1 per dot) using Freebie Points, and I recommend them highly.

Hope you're having fun today! BTW, yesterday flew by for me because of this. Thanks for that, makes work easy/fun/fast.. (and I even got stuff accomplished, believe it or not, lol).

[Erasmas]

Okay... check the character sheet in my initial post.
I think that I have everything that I am supposed to filled in, up to this point!
Let me know what's next!


EDIT: I added a name for my sire. Not sure if you had one in mind already or not, but I chose Margherita Satorino.

[pife]

Margherita Satorino it is!

Oh, btw.. love the dots on the sheet. Just a heads up, there don't need to be dots in the Health Levels section (Bruised, Hurt, Mauled, etc.) I probably should have created another section for that, but I was being lazy, lol.

Checked out your sheet, looks good (not too bright, is he, lol?).

Okay, lets figure out your birth date and Embrace date to determine your apparent age and your chronological age. That will tell me how many extra experience points you'll get to spend.

The next part is your Virtues, Road and Willpower. Then it will be time for Freebie Points, the experience points for your age, and Merits/Flaws (I love those, they are what really helps individualize your character). We're almost there! I'll update the OP with the info for this stuff. Let me know if you want me to move anything that ISNT in the OP into it.

[Erasmas]

Thank you! Okay, I will adjust.

And hey, you gotta be bad at something. And my only other option would've been to put one point into each, which seemed boring. Besides, on a scale of 1-4 (since 5 was asked to be left out)... a 1 isn't all that bad.

As for dates, it seems that the firearm was fairly common (the Ottoman Empire had them as part of the regular infantry) by the 15th century. And the Italian Renaissance is defined as being between the 14-16th centuries. So, we maybe set the game sometime in the late 1400's? And I was figuring on being somewhere in the neighborhood of 300-400 years old (if that's possible). I guess then, I would have been born sometime in the 1100's and 'embraced' 20-25 years after that.

Okay, how many points do I get to spend on the Virtues (or how do I determine what they are set at)?

As for Roads, does my clan have any that are particular to them? The only ones that I can see working for my character (from those presented) would be Beast, or maybe Kings. And for this, I simply pick how extreme (from 1 to 10?) that I want to be, correct?

[Erasmas]

Okay, the Merits that I am looking at are:

• Blush of Health
• Prestigious Sire
• Acute Sense
• Reputation
• Nobility
• Manse
• Sanguine Humor
• Code of Honor

[pife]

Late 1400's, check! I'll set a date shortly.

400 years old, check! You get 250 XP to spend, see spoiler below for costs. **note** Please do not use any of these points for Disciplines. For "older" vampires, there is a flat calculation for Disciplines, equal to the square root of your age, so you will have a (total) of 20 Discipline points to spread out, less the 4 you get for being a new character, so 16 additional Discipline points. )


Feel free to give yourself 4's and 5's with these points, but make sure that they match your character. Someone with a 5+ is EXCEPTIONAL, and it likely forms a good portion of the foundation of the character. So, if you're THAT good at something, make it integral to your character.

Once you're done spending these points, we get to consider Specialties!! (Anything you have 4+ points in among your Abilities and Attributes.. When you roll for actions, normally a 10 is just a 10. But, if it falls within your "specialty" the 10's become open ended. You keep the success, and roll the 10(s) again, continuing to accumulate 10's until they roll something else. For example, a specialty for Dexterity could be "nimble fingers".. So, any action you undertake that reasonably could be easier for someone with nimble fingers, you get to consider the 10s open ended. Others might include, Hard Hitting (for Str), or Pays attention to detail for Perception, etc.


Experience Point Costs

Spoiler

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Like I mentioned before, Freebie Points and XP have different "costs" to purchase abilities. Your freebie points are spent using the scale I gave you before. Your XP gets spent as follows.

Attribute= Current Rating x 4
Improve Existing Ability= Current Rating x 2
New Ability= 3
Clan Discipline= Current Rating x 5 (but don't spend on these)
Other Discipline= Current Rating x 7 (ditto)
New Discipline= 10 (ditto)
Virtue= Current Rating x 2
Road= Current Rating x 2
Willpower= Current Rating

Conscience and Self-Control are added to make your initial Road Rating. (Freebie and Xp can be spent to improve it, though)

As far as Roads, probably the top 3 for the Toreador would be Humanity, Heaven and Kings, likely in that order.. They typically consider themselves too "civilized" to follow the Road of the Beast, and most aren't quite depraved enough to follow the Road of Sin. Also, the "typical" Toreador retains more of his affinity for mortals than most Kindred, though there are exceptions.

[pife]

Okay, the Merits that I am looking at are:

• Blush of Health- This is actually the same thing as Sanguine Humor (I pulled from two lists, and this one crossed over. They are the same skill, but I like the fluff of Sanguine Humor better, so lets go with that one. (Heart beats, sneezing, etc)
• Prestigious Sire 1 point- Can also engender jealousy or contempt from some other Kindred. But, you get the benefit of this even if your sire is dead, hates you, etc.
• Acute Sense- This one should be clear
• Reputation- We could determine what you have this reputation for
• Nobility- At what level? BTW, this one will come with some responsibilities and obligations
• Manse- Groovy, I'll leave it to you to describe, within reason. Considering your age, I would even accept anything "special" that you wanted to have had installed in your home. We'd just need to hammer out the details, ("working" or destitute, what are the special features of the house, do you have servants, etc..
• Sanguine Humor- As mentioned above, this is a reworded (different book) version of the same ability. I will be basically giving you the benefit of both, as they overlap about 80%
• Code of Honor- You would need to define this code. And it's not rigid like a paladin's code per se (though it could be) but should definitely impact your behavior

Awesome! I should have the Flaws put up sometime after lunch.

[Erasmas]

Okay, and here are the Flaws that I am looking at:

• Ward
• Hunted
• Compulsion
• Phobia (does the sun count?)
• Pre-Exclusion [children]
• Overconfident

Once I find out about these (like you expounded upon the Merits), then I will finalize them both. Road of Kings it is then.

And as far as the "points to spend", (outside of what the net might be from Merits/Flaws) I am looking:
16 additional points to spend on Disciplines
15 Freebie Points (at a cost of - Attributes (5), Abilities (2), Disciplines (7), Backgrounds (1), Virtues (2), Road (1), and Willpower (1))
250 XP (at the costs listed above; but not of Disciplines)

And Conscience and Self-Control both start at 0 and are raised with the aforementioned points, correct? Do I have everything right so far, before I start spending?

[pife]

Okay, and here are the Flaws that I am looking at:

• Ward Now, realize that I will use this person against you from time to time or it would be a pretty impotent Flaw. On the other hand, they can also help you to the extent they are capable. So, we'll need to figure out who this is and why you protect them.
• Hunted- This is an individual rather than an organization (that would be the Flaw Enemy). They will be competent and determined. They won't be popping up all over the place, but they will be there unless/until you are able to neutralize them.
• Compulsion- Need to determine what you are compulsive about
• Phobia (does the sun count?) Unfortunately, no, lol. ALL vampires are afraid of the sun. Also, fire doesn't count either. Think of the traditional phobias. You don't have to stick to those, (and some of those are pretty bizarre too, lol).
• Prey-Exclusion [children] Are we talking small children (under 10) or are you including teenagers as well? Unless there's an obvious cut-off, there will be the possibility of you feeding on someone (she said she was 19, I swear!) that you don't want to, causing frenzy. Also, bear in mind that you despise OTHERS feeding from them as well. Be sure you're willing to take issue with anyone feeding on children (cuz a lot of vampires think they're Oh So Tasty, likely including your sire)
• Overconfident- Hehe, be careful, this one can get you in trouble..

Once I find out about these (like you expounded upon the Merits), then I will finalize them both. Road of Kings it is then.

And as far as the "points to spend", (outside of what the net might be from Merits/Flaws) I am looking:
16 additional points to spend on Disciplines
15 Freebie Points (at a cost of - Attributes (5), Abilities (2), Disciplines (7), Backgrounds (1), Virtues (2), Road (1), and Willpower (1))
250 XP (at the costs listed above; but not of Disciplines)

And Conscience and Self-Control both start at 0 and are raised with the aforementioned points, correct? Do I have everything right so far, before I start spending?

Your Virtues (Conscience, Self-Control and Courage) all start with 1 dot, and you have 7 additional dots to spread between them.

Other than that, you're correct. And I'll want some kind of justification for any NON-Clan Discipline that hits 4+. There won't be a problem with it, but I want it to be, well, justified, lol. Once the game begins, all bets are off, and you can have anything you can convince people to teach you, but it might be bizarre for a young affluent nobleman to have 5 dots in Animalism, for example. Not impossible, but would need some kind of reason specific to the character.

You are correct about the remaining points and their costs. Please note that most "new" characters don't have the additional 250 xp and the 16 additional Disciplines, so part of the reason your chargen is a little complicated is that we're advancing your character and making him what is for all intents and purposes, an Elder.

The game year will be 1495, by the way. Venice is the printing capital of the world ( I know, right, whoda thunk it?), are a thallasocracy (maritime empire) of immense wealth and have recently peaked effectively. In the coming years, there will be a very slow fade from glory. Currently the population is approximately 180,000, making it the second largest city in Europe behind Paris, and easily the wealthiest city in the world.

I have begun determining who is who in the Kindred society of Venice, and once your character is done, I will also make your Sire and start determining who knows who and who is in charge of what in the city and surrounding areas.

Venice is a city of considerable religious freedom, and it's status as a center of commerce, art, learning, etc, make it a relatively diverse city. Many languages are spoken, and Moors and Arabs are fairly common.

Do you know if you were born in/near Venice, or are you transplanted from somewhere else. It has been 400 years, after all.


Oh, and.. don't forget, as a vampire of your generation (which might even get lower if you spend any more freebies on it), your Attributes (Str, Dex, Int, etc) can go up to 6. Further, I haven't yet hit on all of the uses for the Blood (should oughta do that for ya), but a vampire can "pump" their Physical Attributes using blood on a 1 for 1 basis. Meaning, If you have a strength of 4, you can boost that, up to the limit of BP/rd (for you, 2 at 9th gen)

Physical Augmentation- Spend 1 BP to raise a Physical attribute by 1 for the duration of the scene. (Note: A "scene" is just like in a play. It could represent seconds, or it could represent days. A fight would be a scene, as would a meeting with the Prince, as would the journey over the river and through the woods to grandmothers house (unless a meeting, discussion, fight, etc broke out on the way, at which point that would start a new scene)).

You must declare that you're doing it at the start of your turn, but it's a free action. You can spend as many BP as you are allowed per your veneration (again, for you that's 2/rd at 9th gen), but you can raise each physical attribute to only ONE higher than your generation allows. (Your generation allows you to have attributes of 6, so you could boost your strength to a 7 for a single scene. You CAN pump it higher than that, (up to 10 total dots), but the excess only lasts for 3 turns (rounds) after you stop "pumping".

Doing this may produce peculiar manifestations. For instance, Blood boosted Stamina may include very noticeable changes when you taking damage, with tissues leaping closed and fountains of vitae coating burns and scars.

[Erasmas]

Okay... merits and flaws (explained and finalized).

• Prestigious Sire (-1): This one should make sense. I like that thought of her having standing within both the mortal circle and the kindred. I very much see that my character will have gotten many of his behaviors from her and (somewhat inadvertently) still abides by them.
• Acute Sense [Sight] (-1): Eagle-eyes. Good for assassin.
• Acute Sense [Hearing] (-1): Ears of the fox. Also good for assassin.
• Reputation (-2): Alonzo has a reputation for being a ladies' man and being carefree. He is a part of an old and wealthy family, so this is compounded. This is how he is seen by the world of the living. His reputation among those in the know, however, is laced with the tales of him being a discreet killer for hire.
• Nobility (-1): A low-level position. Almost more of an honorary title than much of anything with true prestige behind it. I chose this more as a "comes with the family name" kind of thing.
• Manse (-2): Called it the 'Villa da Catalano'. I imagine it as a pristine and well-kept 'modern' home filled with works of art and beauty. Fresh flowers are brought in each day from the small garden courtyard (complete with two fountains). There are many large windows and some open-aired balconies. And then there's the extensive wine cellar... with a hidden entrance into Alonzo's lair - which serves as both the place where he hides all of his assassin-related belongings and where he sleeps during the day.
• Sanguine Humor (-2): Warm(-ish) body. For the ladies.
• Code of Honor (-1): Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent.- He will not kill children or those he has deemed as 'pure'. Hide in plain sight.- Live amongst the mortals and use them as needed, but never reveal your true nature to them and suffer any to live with the knowledge. Never compromise the Brotherhood.- Never betray those of your clan willingly. Avoid ever putting them at risk over yourself.
  ---o---
• Ward [] (+3): I was thinking about it being someone that reminds him a lot of his wife (from when he was alive), but she is/was betrothed to another man. Thus, he could not bring himself to bed her or kill her (though he has come close to doing both, once each on different occasions).
• Hunted [] (+4): Have fun with it! I love the idea of having a nemesis... maybe even one that has been hunting me for a long time and that I have managed to evade thus far!
• Compulsion [Clean Kills] (+1): He doesn't like a sloppy kill. He likes it to be fast; over and done with before the target even knows what is going on. And he is meticulous about leaving any evidence behind.
• Prey-Exclusion [children] (+1): He refuses to kill anyone that has not gone through puberty yet (I assume that a vampire might be able to tell... at the very least in females)? If not, then he uses his best judgement to tell.
• Overconfident (+1): Him being a little cocky is a cornerstone to his make-up!

Okay, I think I did my Disciplines correctly. I had 20 points in all to spend and they are all present and accounted for.

XP- I spent (249; +1 for Merits/Flaws Balance):
Attributes

• Intelligence - 1 to 2, 2 to 3
• Stamina - 2 to 3
• Dexterity - 3 to 4, 4 to 5
• Perception - 2 to 3, 3 to 4
• Manipulation - 3 to 4, 4 to 5, 5 to 6
• Charisma - 4 to 5
• Wits - 3 to 4
• Strength - 3 to 4

Abilities

• Legerdemain - new
• Commerce - new
• Law - new
• Alertness - 1 to 2, 2 to 3
• Brawl - 2 to 3
• Dodge - 1 to 2
• Stealth - 3 to 4, 4 to 5, 5 to 6
• Etiquette - 2 to 3
• Investigation - 2 to 3, 3 to 4
• Survival - 1 to 2
• Politics - 1 to 2
• Subterfuge - 1 to 2
• Intimidation - new, 1 to 2
• Firearms - new, 1 to 2, 2 to 3
• Ride - 1 to 2
• Seneschal - 1 to 2

Advantages

• Allies - 1 to 2

Virtues

• Courage - 3 to 4

Other

• Willpower - 4 to 5, 5 to 6

Freebie Points- I spent (15):
Abilities

• Law - 1 to 2
• Subterfuge - 2 to 3
• Ride - 2 to 3
• Legerdemain - 1 to 2
• Dodge - 2 to 3

Advantages

• Status - 0 to 1
• Domain - 0 to 1, 1 to 2

Was born somewhat near Venice, in the northeastern reaches of the Italian Provinces.

Is that everything?

[pife]

Wow, very nicely done! Sent you a text about the Stealth score, but other than that, it looks very good.

Spoiler

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Prestigious Sire- Your sire is one of the Primogen of Venice (These are the "elite" vampires that serve as the Prince's "council". (Think "Chancellors" from True Blood). Usually one member from each Clan (that the Prince accepts in his city) is designated as a member of the Primogen, ostensibly to ensure that each Clan has a voice in the city politics. She is well thought of and respected by most, and is the largest patron of aspiring artists in the city.

Your reputation stems in large part from two separate things. First, the ladies love you! But also, your carefree and youthful attitude and skill at wordplay/debate means that most Kindred don't consider you a personal threat to them. You're like the kid in high school that could "fit in" with nearly every social group, while belonging to none of them specifically. (Also, it doesn't hurt that your Sire is so affluent. Others sometimes defer to you merely to gain traction with her).

Nobility- "Knight" would be a suitable low-ranking title if you are so inclined. You may also have originally been a 2nd or 3rd son when mortal, and therefore you would still have been "noble", but without all those pesky responsibilities, lol. We'll need to figure out what your relationship is with the mortal nobility. Are you involved at all, do they know who you are, (or who you say you are?)

BTW, I noticed you have zero points of Resources.. Do you rely solely on your "income" as an assassin? Not a problem if you do, but will be difficult to maintain appearances (fine clothing, wine, the art you mention in your home, etc). No business interests? Without regular "commissions" that pay well, your home will slowly deteriorate due to lack of attention. It's hard, (but not impossible) to be a noble without assets.

Your one dot of Viscissitude was taught to you by a temporarily grateful (batcrap crazy and volatile) Tzimisce neonate who eventually went off the deep end and forced the Prince to call a Blood Hunt on him. Nobody (not even Margherita) knows you have this ability.

From whence comes your code of honor? Are/were you a member of an organization, or is this just Alonzo's personal code? And define "pure", as Alonzo sees it. Finally, when you say that you won't suffer any mortals who know you are Kindred to live, does this mean that none of the ghouls or retainers of other vampires are aware of you?

Not sure if it was clear or not, but you get all of those benefits from Sanguine Humor, warmer breath, skin less pale, heart beats, sneezing, etc.

Your Ward.. So, she is either betrothed, married or widowed. Are you friends? Or is this a "love from afar" situation? Is she aware of your feelings? Does she/would she return them?

Hunted- Your nemesis is mortal, and was actually one of your first "meals" as a vampire. You lost control and frenzied, killing the wife, and then draining the husband when he surprised you while you fed from her lifeless corpse. You thought he was dead. (He wasn't). He lives in Florence, normally, and has attacked or inconvenienced you nearly every time you've left Venice, but he seems to be afraid or reluctant to follow you "home". You're fairly certain he's a ghoul, because he's NOT Kindred, and yet he's still alive 400 years later. But where is he getting his vitae?

Compulsion- So, does Alonzo get frustrated if something prevents him from making a clean kill?

Who do you have in mind for your allies? I would be happy to figure it out, or you can suggest someone. (BTW, allies are normally mortals who know that you're Kindred, but given your reticence for mortals knowing, they might just think that you're a jaded noble. One of the allies will be low-ish power, no more influential than say, a mid level bureaucrat, a village priest, a not-unsuccessful merchant, etc. The other can be slightly more affluent or connected, a minor city official, a talented guildsman, a ships captain, a low-ranking military officer (lieutenant or captain equivalent).

Your character sheet shows one point of Domain, your breakdown shows 2. Your Willpower shows 8 on the sheet, 6 on the breakdown.

Is your Mentor your sire, or another Kindred? If another, what Clan and what is his/her connection?

With no points in Academics, we'll say you can barely read. Merchants have been known to bamboozle you when giving you change, especially if there is an exchange rate. You're exceptionally smart, but not educated. Perhaps you were precocious as a child and ignored your tutors, dazzling them with your wit and logic, but blowing off their lessons? You also would only speak your native tongue (either Persian or Italian, but not Latin)

We will need to set a number of specialties for you, including Str, Dex, Cha, Man, Per, Wits, Stealth and Investigation. (Will provide some ideas in spoiler below, or you can run some alternate ideas past me. Remember, you only get the benefit (rerolling '10's) if your action makes sense with your specialty. (if your specialty is "Strong Grip", it would help with grappling, holding onto someone/something, etc, but wouldn't help you do damage with a blade, for instance).

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Str- Strong Grip, Broad Shoulders, Rocklike Fists, Lower-Body-Strength
Dex- Catlike Reflexes, Swift, Surefooted, Light Touch
Cha- Charming, Eloquent, outgoing, Captivating, Commanding, Inspiring
Man- Glib, Expressive, Cunning, Persuasive, Smooth
Per- Insightful, Attentive, Paranoid, Keen-eyed
Wits- Clever, Shrewd, Practical, Combat Nerves
Stealth- Prowl, Hunt, Hide, Lurk, Shadows, Crowds, Wilderness
Investigation- Seach, Prowl, Locate Informant, Monastery Records, -Shadowing

Doing some reading on Venice, and putting together some structure for the city. Let meknow if you have any questions!

And, jill and I will be out of town Saturday and part of Sunday, but feel free to text me or call if you like. (hey, if I'm super busy, I'll just ignore ya, lol).

[pife]

Okay, I need to refocus. There are a lot of questions in the air, and I don't want us to get confused. So, rather than post anything else at the moment, I will wait for responses to questions already posed. I've added a bit more to the initial two posts. So, when you've had a chance to review everything, shoot me the answers you have, and shoot me any questions as well. I know we can't teach you the entire ruleset prior to starting, so there will definitely be a learning curve, haha.

Anyway, let me know what questions you have. Tell me the things you feel you need to know more about before we start. And I will be putting together a post with the basic Cainite and Mortal demographics and dealings in/around Venice right now detailing a bit of who you know, and who does what.

[Erasmas]

Okay, fixed Stealth. I believe that it gave me 10 points back, which I spent on Expression (0 to 2 [5 points]) and Academics (0 to 2 [5 points]).

And onto answering questions (and asking some of my own):

• My Mentor- Okay, having it be someone other than my sire makes good sense. Could it maybe be the vampire who taught me either Obtenebration or Vicissitude? Or maybe it could be the same woman as my Ward?
• As for what other information I would like to see... that's a difficult question to answer - a bit like asking a person staring into darkness what they would like to see. As long as the character is hammered down and you are comfortable with things, then I am ready to proceed. You will definitely have to guide me along the way (because I will most assuredly step out of bounds on something sooner rather than later), but I am okay with that.
• What is a harpy in this game?
• What are the inter-clan interactions like? If the prince is of a differing clan, does that cause issues with my relationship with him/her? Do I kill any members of a particular clan on-sight?
• I think that's all of the questions that I found that didn't have answers yet. Am I right? What do you still need from me?

[pife]

Perfect!! With the Expression/Academics, that allows him to have actually had a traditional noblemans education, and makes him more eloquent, which I think will be valid for a 400 year old Elder like yourself!

You also, if you'd like, can read/speak Latin, and can choose another language to be fluent in as well.

The Harpies are the trend-setters of Cainite society. Self-appointed, these are the Cainites whose opinion matters to many "in the know". Basically, they are the Kim Kardashians of the Kindred world. Everyone wants to know what they think. So, the vacuous but connected Toreador "princess" could be a Harpy. They hang around at all the most elite events, seeing and being seen. (By the way, the name is something of a pejorative, and isn't a "title").

Your Mentor- I wouldn't use your Ward, because presumably, she's just a mortal whom you love from afar (or something, lol). The person who taught you Viscissitude is dead, however. The Lasombra who taught you Obtenebration would work, as would a Cappadocian named Abascantas who is actually older than you, but through an odd series of events is of a higher (further from Caine) generation. Originally a Greek physician, he is the leading expert on biology in Venice, and knows more ways to kill people than anyone you've ever met. He's something of a recluse, and was already in his 60's when Embraced. Something of a grandfatherly figure, but with no human "morality" as such, he's all about the experiments. (for some reason Count Rugen from the Princess Bride just came to mind).

Inter-clan politics are complicated. As a general rule, there is no clan that you would "attack on sight". For one thing, the Prince forbids that. For another, the Second Tradition prevents (theoretically) anyone killing someone that is their "elder", which was intentionally left vague. Now, the Tzimisce and the Gangrel would likely attack a Tremere on sight if they thought they could get away with it (lot of bad blood there, no pun intended). Almost anyone would attack/drive off a Ravnos (most Princes even condone this). The Followers of Set are universally feared and despised, but they're also the ones that have the "fun stuff" (more on them later, they play a role in the campaign). Plus the Settites usually have so much "dirt" on any individual that they don't dare act openly against them.

Now, the world is broken up into the "High Clans" and "Low Clans". The High Clans are considered more organized, more elite, more intellectual, etc. The members of the High Clans are the ruling elite. The High Clans include the Brujah, Cappadocian, Lasombra, Toreador, Tzimisce, and Ventrue Clans. There are exceptions, though, and for instance, many Tremere are important movers and shakers in society as well, for instance.

Ravnos are expressly forbidden entry into the Princes domain (the entire city and outlying area) on pain of being staked out in the sunlight. The Baali (devil-worshipping clan) would be the closest to "kill on sight" that you know of.

When the Prince is of a differing Clan (Ventrue hold the most Princedoms, likely followed by the Lasombra and the Toreador), of course it can cause friction. Most Clans are not particularly tight knit, including the Toreador. While there is a bit of Clan solidarity, most of the "artistes" of Clan Toreador are too caught up with their latest infatuation to go to war over Clan politics. (On the other end of the spectrum, the Tremere are extremely close-knit)

The Primogen of Venice do a lot to prevent outright war. Typically a Primogen is the Eldest vampire of a particular clan in a Princedom. (In Venice, there are a couple that aren't the Eldest, but they're still pretty old). They act as a sort of Council of advisors to the Prince. The Prince of Venice is fairly weak and unpopular, and has had to offer many concessions to the Primogen in exchange for their votes on his pet projects (Sounds like Congress, eh?). This "blood in the water" has local politics churning heavily, but nobody is overtly pursuing any acts of war. (acts of terrorism, that's another story entirely).

You are under no obligation to "love" your clanmates, nor "dislike" other Clans. If push came to shove, you'd be expected to side with your clan in most cases, but most things don't break down to clan affiliation.

And rather than drown you with tons more exposition, I'll just put together a post containing the most relevant details that I feel like I would be cheating you if I didn't share, and for the rest, we'll learn on the fly!

[Erasmas]

Glad that was an easy fix! I will speak Italian, Arabic, and Latin then.

My Mentor - That makes good sense. I will have interactions with my Ward, and I was kinda picturing that she may be in love with me (though it may be forbidden, and possibly only because of my abilities granted by being Embraced). But I refuse to take it to allow it to go that far, because what I feel for her grounds what little tie to humanity that I just cannot fully give up. This is intention (as a player) and I am okay with Alonzo having inner conflict over this and his Road. As to my mentor... yes, Count Rugen... er, Abascantas! I am totally using a picture of Christopher Guest for him too... even if he isn't in his 60s.

And the rest sounds great. If there isn't anything else that you need of me... then I think I'm ready to go!

Pictures I found where the costume even fits!

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[pife]

Okay, last questions before we actually start

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1. Your Manse Merit grants you the house, and also allows for a couple of servants. I'm thinking a Seneschal (the guy who pays the bills, orders the other servants, and doubles as a Butler type), a maid and a groundskeeper. Your thoughts?

2. Political aspirations? Are you actively engaged in the "court"? In other words, would you say that you are always present, sometimes present, or rarely present when the Prince holds court? (Happens at least once a week, often at the prince's abode, occasionally at the abode of one of his supporters or the Primogen, and rarely elsewhere).

3. I still need you to pick specialties for any Ability or Attribute of 4+. (I added a spoiler with an explanation and some potential options somewhere on here, lol).

4. Is Casa de Catalano set up to receive guests, and if so, mortal, vampire or both? (Your servants will of course have a small amount of food for their personal use, but I'm wondering if you keep your home stocked with more elaborate fare for guests)?

5. How "social" are you? Are you wanting Alonzo to be at the center of a social group of peers, or is he something of a loner?

6. Your "hobby" (killing people because it needs doing) aside, what are your thoughts on both the Traditions and mortal law?

7. You have been granted official hunting grounds on the Zattere quay of Dorsoduro (the southernmost sestiere, which is a subdivision). This is a shared hunting area, and there are approximately a dozen Kindred (all of whom you know on sight) who are allowed to feed here. It is a long street to either side of the quay, filled with large warehouses and interspersed with lower end craftsmans shops and manufactories. (Princes dole out these "permissions" as favors. The Jewish ghetto is open to anyone, however, on the northern side of the city in the Cannaregio sestiere. (by the way, did you know that the word ghetto actually originated in Venice)? If you are found hunting on someone elses grounds without having received their permission, you will have been guilty of violating the 5th Tradition (Domain), which would require you to be brought before the Prince for judgement, though this is more of a misdemeanor unless your offense is egregious, risks the Masquerade, or if you have already been censured by the Prince). Your hunting grounds are not too far from your home, the Dorsoduro quay being overlooked by a rising hill with several affluent guildhalls and homes of successful merchants and the like (this is where Casa de Catalano sits, the view from the southern end of the home overlooking the canal and the lagoon beyond it)


Grabbing some lunch, need to add just a couple more questions here.