Vancouver By Night [Vampire the Masquerade V5 Chronicle]

[Tevin]

Vancouver
By Night

Vancouver British Columbia Canada was once a power center for the blood lusting, often barbaric Cainites known as The Sabbat. The Black Hand had the city wrapped in a tight stranglehold for decades. That was until an unlikely alliance between Baron Jacob Raynor and Prince Charlotte Falcone was forged. Together the kindred of the Anarchs and Camarilla drove the Sabbat from the territory. The Sword of Caine, more concerned with matters overseas, all but abandoned the city. None who pledge allegiance to the Black Hand remain as far as anyone knows.

In the aftermath of the conflict, the uneasy truce between the Movement and the Tower remains, for now. Whispers speak of a coming night when the pact will be broken and the sects will reignite their long standing rivalry. For now, a kind of Cold War is taking place with both sides increasing their powerbases in preparation for the coming turmoil. That is where you come in. As a freshly embraced vampire of the Anarch Movement, there is little time to teach you the ways of kindred society before all hell breaks loose. Or perhaps you will be the ones to see the uneasy truce develop into something more substantial and long lasting. Whatever the case may be, the coming nights will be fraught with peril for one so young.

Spoiler: The Big 16

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1. What game system are you running (D&D, Call of Cthulu, Palladium, GURPS, etc.), and if applicable what edition (Original, Classic, Revised, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, etc.)?

Vampire the Masquerade 5th Edition.

2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be (i.e. "Shadow Chasers" or "Agents of Psi" for d20 Modern)? What is the setting for the game (eg. historic period, published or homebrewed campaign setting, alternate reality, modern world, etc.)?

This is an Anarch focused game, so players will belong exclusively to the Anarch sect.

3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many?

I'm looking for 4 players. If interest is high enough I'll take on alternates. This wont be a first come first serve selection. I'll be choosing the four characters that I feel will make for the most enjoyable chronicle for everyone.

4. What's the gaming medium (OOTS, chat, e-mail etc.)?

These forums, or perhaps a small discord server.

5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)?

Characters will begin play as freshly embraced Fledglings. The story begins during their first week "on the job."

6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with?

This will be based on your character creation and whether you spend advantage points on it or not.

7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes?

This isn't applicable to the system.

8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? 'Prestige' races or species?

I guess this could apply to clans. I'm open to allowing any of the official clans. Some need more justification than others of course. If your character is Hecata clan please note that would mean they are no longer a member of the Hecata sect. They would have left that sect and joined the Anarchs as this is an Anarch game.

9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points?

As normal for a Fledgling vampire. Generation 14, 15, or 16 for Thinbloods.

10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so?

Alignment isn't really a thing in VTM, but the Chronicle Tenets are as follows:

Do not let anyone harm what is yours or what you love.

Do not cause unnecessary suffering.

Act as a Man, not as a Monster.

11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it?

Not applicable to the system.

12. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them?

I'll roll for STC's, the players will roll for their characters. All rolls will be above board and done in a dice rolling channel.

13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about? If so, list and explain them, or provide relevant links to learn about these new rules.

Blush of Life lasts for the entire evening, not just one scene. Subsequent predator type feeding rolls increase by 1 each time they are attempted. I have revamped the predator types to include more diversity in bonus disciplines, better feeding dice pools, and skill specialties that always apply to the feeding rolls. You can find the updated predator types in the next post.

14. Is a character background required? If so, how big? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)?

Yes, background is required and it somewhat built into the character creation process. Things to think about are what your character was like/did in their mortal life? Why did their sire choose them to be embraced? What are their goals and desires moving forward now that they have immortality? How do they feel about their new condition as an undead blood sucker? etc.

15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above?

Roleplaying will be the main focus, but there will be plenty of opportunities to solve problems as they arise during the course of the game. There can always be multiple solutions to problems, so it really depends on how the characters choose to handle them whether it's combat or puzzle solving.

16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters?

I currently own: Anarch, Camarilla, Chicago by Night, Children of the Blood, Cults of the Blood Gods, Forbidden Religions, Sabbat: The Black Hand, The Chicago Folios, The Fall of London, Trails of Ash and Bone, The V5 Player's Guide, The V5 Core Book, and the V5 Companion. Anything from there that isn't super setting specific (like being a member of the Chicago based Capone Gang for example) should be fine. If you're interested in using something from a book outside that list, you'll need to provide me with it.

[Tevin]

Spoiler: Revamped Predator Types

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Alleycat A combative assault-feeder, you stalk, overpower, and drink from whomever you can, when you can. You may or may not attempt to threaten or Dominate victims into silence or mask the feeding as a robbery. Think about how you arrived at this direct approach to feeding and what makes you comfortable with an unlife of stalking, attacking, feeding, and escaping. You could have been homeless, an SAS soldier, a cartel hit-man, or a big-game hunter.
■ Add a specialty: Intimidation (Stickups) or Brawl (Grappling)
■ Gain one dot of Celerity, Potence, or Protean
■ Lose one dot of Humanity
■ Gain three dots of criminal Contacts
Dice Pools to Hunt: Strength + Brawl or Manipulation + Intimidation

Bagger You steal, buy, or otherwise procure cold blood rather than hunt, relying on the black market or your skills as a burglar or ambulance chaser. Perhaps you still work the night shift at the hospital. Ventrue may not pick this Predator type.
■ Add a specialty: Larceny (Lockpicking) or Streetwise (Black Market)
■ Gain one dot of Oblivion (Hecata or Lasombra Only), Blood Sorcery (Tremere and Banu Haqim only) or Obfuscate
■ Gain the Feeding Merit: Iron Gullet (•••)
■ Gain the Enemy Flaw: (••)Either someone believes you owe them, or there’s another reason you keep off the streets.
Dice Pools to Hunt: Dexterity + Larceny or Intelligence + Streetwise

Cleaver You feed covertly from your (or someone’s) mortal family and friends with whom you still maintain ties. The most extreme cleavers adopt children, marry a human, and try to maintain a family life for as long as they can. Add your family to the Relationship Map. Cleavers often go to great lengths to keep the truth of their condition from their family, but some also maintain unwholesome relationships with their own kin. The Camarilla forbids taking a human family in this fashion, andit frowns on cleavers as Masquerade breaches waiting to happen. Wiser Kindred may massacre your family for your own good if they find out your secret and care what happens to you.
■ Add a specialty: Persuasion (Gaslighting) or Subterfuge (Coverups)
■ Gain one dot of Dominate, Animalism, or Oblivion (Hecata/Lasombra only)
■ Gain the Dark Secret Flaw: (•)Cleaver
■ Gain the Herd Advantage (••)
Dice Pools to Hunt: Manipulation + Subterfuge or Charisma + Persuasion

Consensualist You never feed against your victim’s free will. You masquerade as a representative of a charity blood drive, as a blood-drinking kink-lord in the “real vampire community,” or by actually telling your victims what you are and getting their permission to feed. The Camarilla call that last method a Masquerade breach, but many Anarch philosophers consider it an acceptable risk. You could have been anything in life, but a sex-worker, a political organizer, or a lawyer could all be wary of feeding without consent.
■ Add a specialty: Medicine (Phlebotomy) or Persuasion (Victims)
■ Gain one dot of Auspex, Fortitude, or Presence
■ Gain one dot of Humanity
■ Gain the Dark Secret Flaw: (•) Masquerade Breacher
■ Gain the Feeding Flaw: (•) Prey Exclusion (nonconsenting)
Dice Pools to Hunt: Manipulation + Persuasion or Intelligence + Medicine

Extortionist The extortionist likes to force their victims to bleed for them. Ostensibly, the extortionist acquires blood in exchange for services such as security or surveillance, but as many times as the need for protection is real, it is just as often a fiction engineered to make the deal feel acceptable.
■ Add a specialty: Intimidation (Coercion) or Larceny (Security)
■ Gain one dot of Dominate, Potence, or Blood Sorcery (Tremere/Banu Haqim only)
■ Spend three dots between the Contacts and Resources Backgrounds
■ Gain the Enemy Flaw: (••) The police or a victim who escaped your extortion and now wants revenge
Dice Pools to Hunt: Strength or Manipulation + Intimidation or Intelligence + Larceny

Farmer You only feed from animals. Your Hunger constantly gnaws at you, but you have not killed a single human being so far (except perhaps that one time), and you intend to keep it that way. You could have been anyone in life, but your choice speaks to someone obsessed by morality. Perhaps you were an activist, priest, aidworker, or vegan in life, but the choice never to risk a human life is one anyone could arrive at and struggle to maintain. Ventrue may not pick this Predator type. You cannot pick this Predator type if your Blood Potency is 3 or higher.
■ Add a specialty: Animal Ken (Specific Animal) or Survival (Hunting)
■ Gain one dot of Animalism, Protean, or Potence
■ Gain one dot of Humanity
■ Gain the Feeding Flaw: (••) Farmer
Dice Pools to Hunt: Composure + Animal Ken or Wits + Survival

Graverobber Graverobbers often feed from fresh corpses, but despite their name, they prefer feeding from mourners in cemeteries and sad, frightened visitors and patients in hospitals. Melancholic Resonance in a victim’s blood appeals more than any other humour. This predator type often requires the vampire to hold a haven in or connections to a church, hospital, or morgue.
■ Add a specialty: Occult (Grave Rituals) or Medicine (Cadavers)
■ Gain one dot of Fortitude, Oblivion (Hecata/Lasombra only), or Potence
■ Gain the Feeding Merit: (•••) Iron Gullet
■ Gain the Haven Advantage: (•)
■ Gain the Herd Flaw: (••) Obvious Predator (your cold nature makes you act in a deeply unsettling matter when hunting)
Dice Pools to Hunt: Resolve + Medicine or Intelligence + Occult

Grim Reaper Also known as a plague rat, you only feed on those about to die. You seek out hospice care facilities, assisted living homes and shelters. This means you are constantly on the move looking for new victims near the end of their lives and often have a difficult time settling down yourself.
■ Add a specialty: Awareness (Death) or Larceny (Forgery)
■ Gain one dot of Auspex, Oblivion (Lasombra or Hecata Only), or Dominate
■ Gain the Allies or Influence Advantage: (•) in the medical community
■ Gain one dot of Humanity
■ Gain the Feeding Flaw: (•) Prey Exclusion: Healthy Mortals
Dice Pools to Hunt: Intelligence + Awareness/Medicine or Wits + Larceny

Montero Since the Middle Ages, aristocratic Spaniards have mounted the montería: a deer hunt in which teams of beaters drive game onto the spears (and later the guns) of the montero, the huntsman. You carry on that tradition, using retainers to herd your victims to you for the kill. Your modern montería may take the form of a long con, a flash mob, a protest kettle, an endless bureaucratic shuffle, or a seemingly senseless gang pursuit.
■ Add a specialty: Leadership (Hunting Pack) or Stealth (Stakeout)
■ Gain one dot of Dominate, Obfuscate, or Celerity
■ Gain the Retainers Advantage: (••)
■ Lose one dot of Humanity
Dice Pools to Hunt: Intelligence + Stealth or Charisma + Leadership

Osiris You are a celebrity among mortals or else you run a cult, a church, or something similar. You feed from your fans or worshippers, who treat you as a deity. You always have access to easy blood, but followers breed problems with the authorities, organized religion, and indeed the Camarilla. In life, you might have been a DJ, a writer, a cultist, a preacher, or a LARP organizer.
■ Add a specialty: Occult (specific tradition) or Performance (specific entertainment field)
■ Gain one dot of Blood Sorcery (Tremere and Banu Haqim only), Presence, or Auspex
■ Spend three dots between the Fame and Herd Backgrounds
■ Spend two dots between the Enemies and Mythic Flaws
Dice Pools to Hunt: Charisma + Performance Charisma + Occult

Pursuer Some people will never be believed, while others will never be missed. You study your victim, learning their routine and whether they can disappear without raising a hue and cry. Then you stalk and pursue your victim throughout the night, only striking when your sensibility and your hunger reach their most delicious pitch.
■ Add a specialty: Investigation (Profiling) or Stealth (Shadowing)
■ Gain one dot of Animalism, Auspex, or Celerity
■ Gain the Bloodhound Advantage: (•)
■ Gain the Contact Advantage: (•) related to Mortals around your preferred Hunting Grounds
■ Lose one dot of Humanity
Dice Pools to Hunt: Intelligence + Investigation or Stamina + Stealth

Roadside Killer You belong with the vagabonds, tourists, and truckers of the world — always moving, never at home. You know how to pick out the ones whose deaths are discounted as the risk of a woman hitchhiking alone, or who simply won’t be missed at all. You still have to fight to keep other vampires away from them lest the herd thins too much, though. In life, you either were one of them, or you met these vagrants as they rested at your roadside stop.
■ Add a specialty Survival (the road) or Investigation (vampire cant)
■ Add one dot of Fortitude, Protean, or Animalism
■ Gain two additional dots of migrating Herd
■ Gain the Flaw Prey Exclusion (locals)
Dice Pools to Hunt: Composure + Survival or Intelligence + Investigation

Sandman You rely on your stealth or Disciplines to feed from sleeping victims. If they never wake during the feeding, they won’t know you exist. Perhaps you were very anti-social in life; you don’t feel cut out for the intense interpersonal nightlife or physical violence of more extroverted hunters.
■ Add a specialty: Medicine (Anesthetics) or Stealth (Break-in)
■ Gain one dot of Auspex, Obfuscate, or Celerity
■ Gain one dot of Resources
Dice Pools to Hunt: Dexterity + Stealth or Intelligence + Medicine

Scene Queen You rely on your familiarity with a certain subculture and a wellcrafted pose, feeding on an exclusive subculture that believes you to be one of them. Your victims adore you for your status in the scene, and the ones who understand what you are disbelieved. You may belong to the street or be literal upper-class, abusing the weak with false hope and promises of taking them to the next level. In life, you almost certainly belonged to a scene similar to the one you stalk now.
■ Add a specialty: Etiquette (specific scene), Leadership (specific scene), or Streetwise (specific scene)
■ Gain one dot of Dominate, Potence, or Presence
■ Gain the Fame Advantage: (•)
■ Gain the Contact Advantage: (•)
■ Gain either the Influence Flaw: (•) Disliked (outside your subculture) or the Feeding Flaw: (•) Prey Exclusion (a different subculture from yours)
Dice Pools to Hunt: Charisma + Etiquette or Leadership or Wits + Streetwise

Siren You feed almost exclusively during or while feigning sex, and you rely on your Disciplines, seduction skills, or the unquenchable appetites of others to conceal your carnivorous nature. You have mastered the art of the onenight stand or move through the sex-club scene like a dark star. You think of yourself as a sexy beast, but in your darkest moments, you fear that you're at best a problematic lover, at worst a habitual rapist. A former lover who escaped destruction might be your Touchstone or your stalker. Maybe in life you were a pick-up artist, movie producer, author, a glorious slutty kinkster – or a virgin who intends to make up for lost time post-mortem.
■ Add a specialty: Persuasion (Seduction) or Subterfuge (Seduction)
■ Gain one dot of Fortitude, Presence, or Obfuscate
■ Gain the Looks Merit: (••) Beautiful
■ Gain the Enemy Flaw: (•) A spurned lover or jealous partner
Dice Pools to Hunt: Manipulation + Subterfuge or Charisma + Persuasion

Trapdoor Like the trapdoor spider, you build your nest and lure your prey into it. You may lurk in an amusement park, a dark ride or a steamy Turkish bath, haunt a house or manage a fight club, but your victims come to your place of power. There you might toy with them in terror, imprison and drain them slowly, or just drink deep and send them on their way.
■ Add a specialty: Persuasion (Marketing) or Stealth (Ambushes/Traps)
■ Gain one dot of Protean, Obfuscate, or Presence
■ Gain the Haven Advantage: (•)
■ Gain either the Retainer/Herd Advantage: (•) or a second dot of the Haven Advantage.
■ Gain either the Haven Flaw: (•) Creepy or Haunted.
Dice Pools to Hunt: Charisma + Persuasion or Dexterity + Stealth

[Rokku]

Hell friggin yes.

[Dirty]

This looks like fun! I'd like to submit Franklin, a Gangrel bartender working a seedy blues-rock café near the docks. He's a pursuer predator type, and he's the alert kind of bartender. A good listener, eyes and ears open. Had life been more gentle on him he maybe would have been a good investigator, or detective. Instead he's been knocked around and stuck making ends meet serving booze to the masses.

He intervened on his way home after closing up the bar, when he came across a young woman being harassed by some punks. He can't even remember what they looked like. He got in between and got hurt bad. Multiple stab wounds, kicks to the head. He lost consciousness. He awoke in the park with his Sire hunched over him. Turns out the young woman wasn't the victim he thought she was...

[Zero Prime]

It's been awhile since I jumped into a VtM game. This looks interesting! I'll work on something over the weekend ... likely some sort of Brujah.

[Epimetheus]

I’m almost always up for some vampire, so I’m definitely interested.

I have some vague ideas for a Nosferatu that I’ll try to finalize over the next couple days.

[Tevin]

I'm glad there is some interest here. I have a discord server set up for this since I'm recruiting from a few different places. I'll post a link to it once I get home. It'll have things like a character sheet to fill out posted there. Can't wait to hear more about your characters guys.

[bramblefoot]

Here is some unwanted advice:

if your gonna play a vampire game, make it about the slow, inevitable slide to the bottom. im feeling more bella lugosi, not twilight. i want blood, viscerae, and bullet wounds in my retainers, not sunshine, lollipops and rainbows

[Naysmith]

Interested if this is PbP (my schedule means only a couple days would work for live sessions). I also only have V20 not V5; will I need to buy V5 or get help with how some character building rules may have changed?

Chelsea Carter, a Tremere Toreador (wow, those blood magic rituals are... not good for what I have in mind) of the Osiris persuasion, utilizing her oratory skills. She runs a small cult-like organization dedicated to seeking eternal life, but for one detail: from her sorcery, she understands that everything has a price. Blood to power her rituals... loyalty and aid for loyalty and aid. Her congregation has claim to her aid in their times of need. If not for the morality of it, then for pure pragmatism (though she'd prefer to cling to her humanity by doing the former).

She balances innate cunning with innate charisma, though she's less able to function in a straight-up fight without her powers. By preference, she'll maneuver things to avoid fights entirely, negotiating and taking a lesser prize if necessary and possible.

(It'll take a bit before I can make a good picture of her, since I refuse to use AI art. I have a program that'll let me make that image though.)

[bramblefoot]

afaik, this is pbp

also, check thy dms pixie

[Tevin]

Alright blood-suckers, here's a link to the discord server: https://discord.gg/jES6mmmd

You'll have access to the character sheet there and I'm going to have people submit their sheets in secret to me to keep a little mystery about the characters from one another.

[Kaworu]

Hi ;-)

A possible player here. A few questions:

1. Is the game PBF or PBDiscord?

2. I don't really know that well 5e (although I have a collection of books from HB), but I know previous editions of V:tM. I dunno if that's good?

Also, what kinda character would you need? I see the sheets should be kept secret, but mayba some general indicators of Clans/niches?