#tremere clan mention

[mybuttonfelloff]

Vampire the masquerade bloodlines makes me brain go brrrrr

YES its a game from literally 20 years ago

YES it can be buggy and sometimes peoples clothes float

YES the game is a perfect recreation of what people thought 2004 was like so its like. Kinda shit.

but NOTHING will ever take away my love of these stupid vampires fighting over political vampire power. Story is *kisses* mwah. Music? Fucking iconic. Lecher Bitch is genuinely so good. The myriad of ways u can play? Stealthy. Murdery. Politically. Manipulatey. Selfishly. Generously. ALL??? THE CLANS???? Love my tremere character who is canonically part of the Creepy Ass Clan club. Love that i can use blood magic and make security guards go Standing Naptime so i can run away

Nines is 100% my favorite and idc if its boring to say so. Man could monologue his way through anything. He literally saves ur character's life numerous times in the name of Freedom And Hating The Bourgeoisie. And fucking over corrupt politicians at the same time?? Love him.

Damsel? Love that bitch. She is ready to fight 24/7 and i love that about her. She is just. Kisses on Mouth mwah.

Jack? Coolest dude ever. Allegedly used to be a PIRATE??? VAMPIRE. PIRATE. Also hes like. One of like few people who is genuine with you. Bc he has nothing to really lose or gain by being nice to the poor new kid, he just does it for fun. But also wants to just watch the world burn itself down. Love that abt him.

Lacroix? Cant stand the bastard but he is damn good at whining and throwing a tantrum at every opportunity which usually gets him what he wants. I almost respect it. Almost. But fuck him for not giving my tremere person a new haven bc of their clan.

Jeanette and Therese? First of all, GREY DELISLE MY BELOVED. Second, their story is fucking great. Genuinely didnt know what was gonna happen until It Happened. Also, #gaslight #gatekeep #girlboss to the death.

Honorable mention Heather love u girl thanks for the money and lunch.

I am currently in the Hollywood section so ik there are people missing but goddamn my brain needed to get this out so i can keep obsessing in peace

[sangaverage]

VTR OC Story- Heka's Embrace- A Journal Entry

REBLOGS ALLOWED BUT DO NOT REPOST AS YOUR OWN!

note here: This OC is Mekhet but also has Tremere tendencies, my story teller allowed this! there is also VTR lore somewhere that vampires cannot sniff unless they will it or are told.

Overview: A rather chaotic Mekhet with a little Tremere blood magick mixed in, has a rather chaotic outlook on his unlife let's say. He knows some things but not everything he gets up to will be covered up, folks won't happy about it, but that's not his problem anymore, or is it? Sires biggest disappointment but he looks after him nonetheless...

Warnings for blood, violence and odd religious themes in this one!

story under the Divider, credit to: Anitalenia (again)

6TH SEPTEMBER

My occult curiosity got the better of me, again.

Let me tell you the tale of what happened, I read that book of forbidden knowledge and unknowingly made a deal with the devil. Well, not the actual devil but he may as well not be far off, I was right to get an odd feeling from my boss, but I didn't know that feeling was because he was a monster, a vampire as the mortals commonly called us.

Yes, Us, I am one of his kind now. But at least the library job is behind me, but my new job, if you can even call it that, isn't necessarily my dream. I'm cursed to roam the night now. what's done is done. no amount of lamenting can make me mortal again, so why bother wasting precious vitae on bloody tears?

My boss, now my sire, changed me that night. He made me an offer I couldn't really refuse, I could either die, have my memories get erased and I can never work at that Library again, or, I could become like him.

The embrace as it's known to us, seemed like the best deal at the time. every venomous word dripped from his mouth like the sweet dew from a forbidden fruit that I knew I shouldn't give in and take a bite of but there was something tempting in that serpents eyes. As easily as my poetic descriptions, I was enamoured with the idea.

So I met him at his place as instructed.

With hungry fangs at my neck, the contract was sealed.

I could have backed out now and let him kill me, drain me dry and leave me for dust in his grand old house. I would remain dead rather than the undeath I currently experience now. I don't even think he would have let me. I was valued, respected, a prized asset in his vampiric eyes, not to mention ild be a body on his precious grey carpet.

Now, most mortal writings describe the bite of a vampire as a ravenous, primal thing of immense pain. Then again those mortal books also say vampires are fictional, so what do they know.

Whilst the bestial look in his eyes was definitely there, something about the whole ordeal was oddly somber, Calming almost. My heart was slowly stopping. I could tell my life as I knew it was ending and yet, I wasn't scared. Rather, I felt at peace, and I won't lie it was mildly pleasurable!

Then I died, well at least for a brief moment in time. You don't even really register it as death. Everything goes black for about a moment and then suddenly your consciousness returns at the taste of forbidden wine. The blood of the sire.

At first no senses came back to me. It was Only after the first drops hit the back of my throat that the taste hit me, and oh was it thick. You could tell he wasn't human from the viscosity of his blood alone. With a taste akin to vinegar and iron my eyes shot open once more.

What I met on the other side did not look like the boss I once knew but rather a distorted version of him, as if me now being a member of his kind had removed my clouded vision. I saw him for the true monster that he is, sure his face looks pale but it was mostly the same. His eyes are still brown, but there is sheen to them. Every now and again when the moonlight hit his face they would emit the eeriest red glow, A beastial Lucidium reflecting the true monster hidden within.

This is what I was now? Then as if by magic, he stopped feeding me his blood and his form became normal again, minus the fangs that protrude from his mouth of course.

I am told Not all vampires have this ability of showing their true inner form. I was taught later that the basic human form is how vampires are commonly seen by mortals. The ability that I witnessed is something called 'Nightmare' and only certain vampires are able to learn and use it, my sire was happy to teach me how as well as other aspects of this so called 'Nightmare'.

I learned many things from my sire, but he never really showed me much practical work. He said it was easier if I learned and practiced most of my abilities myself. He told me to see what I get on with most. He also told me of my Type of vampire, The Mekhet and a few other types of vampire or Clans as they are commonly known. Apparently vampires can detect each other via a supernatural sense to recognise another beast, and a fight of flight situation occurs...

I was also taught of the Tremere Bloodline whom apparently my sire and I are a part of. Think of Mekhet as the umbrella term and Tremere as a side faction, if it helps.

Apparently the Tremere are an old bloodline, sometimes called sorcerers because of their ability to use Thaumaturgy, an ancient form of blood magic. Apparently there are not many of the Tremere here now compared to the old numbers. This is due to The collapse of their old Covenant, The Pyramid. This was sort of like a Tremere secret society where the art of Thaumaturgy as well as other rituals were taught, among other things. There was so much information that I forget most of it now I am older.

I Joined a covenant in that time. There were a few to choose from and each had their own creation myths of how us damned came to be. The one I agreed with most however was that of the Lancea Sanctum. I won't bore you with it here though.

What I will mention however is the Lancea right of passage. Known as the anointment or bloodbath, an accurate name for sure. I attended my first vampire mass. (I'll say it's much different than the human masses)

Once we had learned about the curse of Longuinus I was pulled aside. A group of higher members of the Lancea took me, blindfolded, to a chamber in the building. I was instructed to stand in a large old greek bathing room but I was not told what this bath would contain. Whatever the substance was before the removal of the blindfold was thick and lukewarm. For all I knew it could have been a tub of honey or melted chocolate.

The group left except two members and one gently removed my blindfold and instructed me to see and sniff. It was Blood! Lots of it and silly me decided to arrive at mass on a semi empty stomach.

It was damn hard to fight the urge in me to just go wild and lap up the stuff, VERY damn hard, and I don't know how exactly I endured not going into what's known as frenzy, but I was praised for resisting. (Thank you sire and the small bag of blood I drank beforehand I guess) I was anointed with a mark on my face with some of the blood, my head was dunked under, some praise was said for Longuinus and the Lancea and I was now officially accepted. Much like a human baptism except much bloodier.

I must say that was the longest minute and a half I have probably felt in all my life. When I returned from mass I went to my haven, and aggressively raided the fridge for my last blood bag...

[Entry ends abruptly here]

[auroraeternal]

VTMB Clans Inspired Lookbook (Sims3)

For @aiikrstn ;) All of this looks is fully original, not recreation of any existing game outfits, except Malkavian (because at the moment when I need to do this look I completely out of ideas ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, and I also need to mention Dari Sims set in any way, so here it is). @sagasimsworld asked me if I would make male looks too, but my CAS is RRREAALLYYY LAGGY because of the amount of CC, so I'm not sure. Anyway, hope you like it.

General: My Resources, Skin, Skin Nosferatu, Nails, Nails Nosferatu, Pattern.

Toreador: Hair, Dress, Boots, Earrings, Glasses, Necklace, Bracelet 1, 2 (LN), Rings.

Ventrue: Hair, Dress, Shoes, Necklace, Ring.

Tremere: Hair (Adriana), Top, Pants, Boots, Glasses, Necklace 1, 2 Gloves, Rings 1, 2, Socks (BG).

Brujah: Hair, Jacket, Pants, Boots, Piercing 1, 2, Choker, Bracelet 1, 2, Tattoos.

Gangrel: Hair (Willow), T-shirt (Store), Pants, Sneakers, ACC Jacket, Choker.

Malkavian: Hair (G14), Outfit.

Nosferatu: Hair, "Top" (accessory), Skirt, Boots, Piercing, Belly chain.

@ninthcirclets3cc @pis3update @nightoccfinds @bloodys-s3ccfinds @wanderingsimsfinds

[gorbalsvampire]

TALK ABOUT HORNT VAMPIRES, PLEASE!!!

This is about the Compulsion thing, isn't it?

OK. Compulsions are born out of the Hunger - they are a consequence of Messy Criticals - but they are also evidence that the Beast isn't about the Blood and only the Blood and nothing but the Blood. The basic Compulsions "form the core of the vampiric personality" and they are Hunger, Harm, Paranoia... and Domination.

Vampires want control. It's how they stay safe, it's how they stay fed, it's one of their core drives. Of course they're going to lean on one of the cores of the human personality to establish that control, and they're going to Discipline their prey - what a choice of terms for the vampiric power set! - to maintain it.

We can talk about the raw power of the Lasombra - they're stronger than you, they can break your mind to their whim, and if you will insist on struggling, the deprivation of sight and movement and the critical but not lethal pain offered by various iterations of Obetneblivion.

We can talk about the horror that is Auspex and a mental Discipline. Tremere, Malkavians, Tzimisce and especially Toreador can read your desires off the back of your head and compel you to fulfil them and, in the latter case, you won't even necessarily know you're being played. Everything will feel... natural. For all that I love the overt hypno-kink potential of the Tremere in particular (it's wired into their relationships with each other, either part bound to enable Dominate or reliant on it because they can't bind), it's the Toreador who I find most horrifying and alluring here. My Ravnos and Setite characters wish they were that good.

We can even talk about meat crimes, if you want, but the rest of Vampire fandom on Tumblr has kinda got that part down already.

Let's go deeper, though, and get into the Compulsions of specific clans.

Judgment. Look, I don't want to spell this out for you, it seems too obvious. Transgress, and a Banu Haqim can't help themselves. They are responsible for you, you awful brat, and you keep on baiting them like this. It's a dangerous dance, working your lover's levers like this, but if you're into punishment you're going to get bitten.

Rebellion. Feral Impulses. I'm loading two Anarch pillar clans together because what unites the Brujah and the Gangrel, for our purposes, is their brattiness, the urgency and spite of their desire. The Gangrel one even goes so far as to mention that clothes are constricting: there's an exhibitionist thing waiting to get out here.

Morbidity. Don't even start me on the snuff movies. That's easy street. The Hecata can kill and resurrect something more abstract - like the desires of the jaded and the weary. When nothing excites you any more, when you feel like pleasure has lost its edge, here's a sadistic fucker with a bite that'll give you some perspective on yourself. A dangerous game, especially for mortals, but - OK, now we can talk about the snuff movies.

Transgression. What's a Minister without a boundary to kick down and slither over? You say vampires don't fuck and half the Setites have their kit off just to spite you. This is to say nothing of religious adulation, the stereotype of the serpent queen adored by pliant, presenting bodies. I actually find this one a bit tired - I'd like to see a Minister who's more of the World and the Devil than the Flesh.

Delusion - the Malkavian sensory overload, writhing in the embrace of imaginary lovers and less able to resist further... stimulus. You don't need to touch a Malkavian to set them off. But you know what I really think of, when I think about Malkavians? Power. She's beauty. She's grace. There's pain writ on her face. She carries such a terrible burden but with you, beloved, little one, with you she can let go. Unmask, and bask in the sensations she spent all night repressing. Why was Malakai so close to brother Saulot and brother Set? They both wanted to help her release. Set just wanted her to do it in public.

Cryptophilia - what does your Nosferatu lover want? What do you want? They're not going to be happy until they've turned over the deepest stone in your soul, put you in your space and found the tick you didn't even know you tocked. You lucky monsterfucker. You're going to be here a while.

Tempting Fate. Oh, Ravnos. You always want what you can't have. You just have to kiss the diva while you're taking off her necklace. You just have to make sure the Seneschal's secretary really wants to come and find you a second time. And a third. And... look, Ravnos have trouble with the word no and they can make you have trouble with it too.

Affective Empathy. Was there ever a clan so cursed as the Salubri? Ever a Kindred so driven to share, to ease, to comfort? The Salubri sex worker. The Salubri surrogate. The Salubri who cares for you so much. Won't you find solace with them? Please? Please? There's a desperate selfishness to their kindness that feels deliciously complex.

Obsession. Covetousness. The Toreador admire your beauty for itself. The Tzimisce admire it because it's theirs. They want to transform you, enshrine you, possess you absolutely. Hope you like being spoiled. Hope you like feeling beholden to the object of your Desire in a way the others will never understand. Only you appreciate it truly. Spoil it. Cradle it. Never let it go.

Perfectionism. Ruthlessness. I wasn't expecting the Tremere and the Lasombra to have so much in common, but both of them want to do the thing right. Again. Again. Again. Until it's perfect. Critically, it's them doing the thing - for all that they like giving commands, their Compulsion finds them wanting to fulfil them, to exceed them even, and Lasombra aren't the aloof hands-off kind of domme. Leave that to the Ventrue. They're going to work you over.

Arrogance. Basic as ever, the Ventrue love being the boss, but there's a catch. The order has to be given without supernatural aid. So this Compulsion forces the Ventrue to cultivate loyalty, respect, obligation, love and lust like a human, just so they can feel more like a good vampire. This is how you crack open the dignitas and get under their skin. This has a lot more potential than you'd think. If the Ventrue doesn't understand the limitations, at first, the poor bastard could be grinding his fangs night after night wondering why the cold instruction of Compel or the deliberate cruelty of Entrance isn't doing it for him. What does the Beast want that its powers do not provide?

God, I'm thinking about the erotic potential of Clan Ventrue now. Eff Emm Ell.

And Duskborn? You're mostly human anyway. Most of you are walking around with a thrill in your very veins! It hits like vitae, just about, but with no consequences. You gorgeous little snack packs. You have something the old thiccos want, and can't admit to taking. Isn't that delicious? Isn't that almost power? Isn't that how you get your Mawla sugar daddy? Isn't it fun to look these "real Kindred" over and realise that their Hunger is your Dominance? Who really has the power in this room: is it really the person giving all the orders?

[zarvasace]

VAMPIRES

Red’s explanation is here

I did a cursory job of making the Four Swords boys in VtM5. Had fun with it. :)

I enjoy the base d10 pool system of this game, and I think there are some clever mechanics in both this and earlier versions, but the book is NOT easy to use. (Not to mention the trove is dead...) :P overexplanations below the cut!

Blue

He's a bit different from Red—

- his clan is Brujah, so essentially "the angry punchy ones with social justice ideals or something"

- finds blood by directly mugging people on the street

- good at punching

- vampire powers include seeing in the dark/glowy eyes (he stole this power), being very strong, and scaring people

- he has criminal contacts, crashes at Red's house, has some responsibilities in vampire society, and has a rather high-status vampire mentor (some like, guard captain equivalent I guess)

- he also has some vampire hunter mortal enemy and won't feed from anyone that looks like they're under like 20 years old

- I gave him a main belief of "protect all children" and named some random kid who's meant to be an Erune parallel or something like that

- he wants to kill Vaati! Surprise!

- he also wants to get R/G/V/S up to competency with a melee weapon or two

Vio

Details:

- oldest so far, born 1911 and died 1931 (I'm assuming American so Great Depression era). That puts him at 11th generation vs Red and Blue's 13th, which means he's slightly more powerful

- clan is Tremere, the sorcerers and scholars

- works at a museum repairing old books, knows a LOT about medieval occultism, and finds his blood among museum staff and visitors

- smart, bad at punching or literally anything physical. He can drive though. And good at noticing things.

- vampire powers include seeing in the dark, erasing a few minutes of a human's memory, making his own blood acidic, making another vampire hungrier, and briefly making himself more powerful

- he also has a few rituals: one to walk on walls, one to learn about someone if he has a cup of their blood, one to find someone he knows, and one to know if someone is telling the truth or not

- he knows French and Japanese, is mildly famous among museum folk, can find some good money, and can sniff out good blood.

- but a group of other historians really don't like him because of some paper he published. He gets hurt if he touches silver or garlic. He won't drink from students. Other vampires in their secret society are somewhat suspicious of him due to past activity.

- Red's house? You mean Vio's office

- he has two main beliefs to tether him to humanity: (1) be independent (2) encourage people to learn

- he also wants to kill Vaati. For science. Also he wants to learn more magic.

Green

Details:

- rather young, about Red's true age, but of a slightly higher generation

- clan is Ventrue, the leaders and rich people

- he's masquerading (well, he has a good false identity) as his own son, which lets him keep using his influence. He lives with the others because this is a Story but he is very popular among the rich kids at the exclusive university nearby, which is where he gets his blood

- He's pretty smart, but focuses on manipulation and pulling social strings. something something investments and trusts

- Despite all that, he doesn't particularly *like* the rich culture. He's here because he feels like it's more moral to feed from those uber-rich than anyone else. In fact, his preferred victims are the young rich, and feeding from anyone else is difficult for Reasons

- His special powers include Magic Suggestion, Magic Resistance to Persuasion, Magical Toughness, and Magical Intimidation

- Oh and also Magic Shouting Voice

- He's rich too. Or at least can get to a lot of money.

- There are a couple vampire hunters after him though

Shadow

Details:

- A couple years older than Vio, they died about the same time, to different causes but they did very much know each other back in like 1920 (I'm imagining an infuriatingly slow burn romance)

- Since I don't have a book with the Lasombra shadowy clan in it, I chose Nosferatu for Shadow. They can't hide among humans because they very obviously look like vampires (the lore talks about them looking very ugly and then describes some real disabilities which is *ugh* but I bet I could come up with something better. like dark tendrils or metallic skin.) The Nosferatu are interesting because they're kind of considered one of the most internally human of the clans, which I thought was a cool nod to Shadow's belated and cracked moral compass

- He's pretty smart and good at technology, and also art. I imagine he makes some money doing like digital art or something. he has a hobby, which is more than some of these guys can say

- He actually exclusively drinks blood from animals, and not humans at all. One of his magic powers allows him to do it more easily, and he takes some penalties if he tries to drink from a human.

- His special powers involve turning invisible in darkness, turning an animal into a familiar, summoning small animals and talking to them, and being stupid strong

- His humanity connections involve valuing human life and art

- He has a fantastic setup in Red's basement, computers and security and all, and probably never goes outside

- He speaks French like Vio does. it's their thing I guess.

- He has a dark secret, idk what it is yet. It's easy to bond him to another vampire's will. Vampire society is wary of him. He has an enemy of some kind. this boy is just loaded up with flaws, man.

[ryttu3k]

here's a question, Let's say VtmB is being remade and you're given an opertunity to add/change one thing. what do you do? Personally I think I'd add a tzimisce player option and story, because we need more of those!

Honestly I'm always down for my Tzimisce, with the main issue being that it's just not very plausible you'd even get past the opening scene. Of the seven clans already there, they're all Camarilla clans (aside from the Gangrel, who had already left, but only very recently). They could fit with any sect.

The Ventrue, Tremere, and Nosferatu characters we meet are Camarilla-based (with LaCroix, Strauss, and Gary), the Brujah and Toreador are all Anarchs (with Nines, Damsel, and Jack, and Isaac and his childer), the Malkavians we meet or... learn about (Grout) are split between the two, and the only Gangrel we meet are Beckett (autarkis), the Southland Slasher (no sect affiliation), and Skelter (never mentions his clan). Still, it's considered very much plausible to play an Anarch Nosferatu, or a Camarilla Toreador (especially the latter, there's a primogen).

Playing Tzimisce? You're going to be under suspicion from the outset, if you're not immediately killed. In Revised, the Tzimisce were a Sabbat clan, straight out. If you're Embraced as Tzimisce, you're almost certainly going to be killed before even going to trial, because why bother? They just killed a presumed Sabbat member and their brand new fledgling. Why even bother with a trial? It's not like your sire was a respected member of a community.

So that could, in fact, lead to what I'd most like to see - the option to play as a Caitiff, with your sire being of an unknown clan. Similar to Sins of the Sires, you always, always start off as a Social Caitiff (I went through different types of Caitiff here), you can choose three disciplines (maybe two to start with, and a third later?), and those disciplines determine whether you stay a True Caitiff, or whether you later uncover your actual clan. And that could include Tzimisce, along with five of the seven original clans (Nosferatu and Malkavians are too obvious), Banu Haqim, Setite, or Giovanni (which could make the mission later interesting!).

Possibly would have to exclude Lasombra (the technology or reflection bane is too obvious) or Ravnos (it's post-Week of Nightmares and that also has a very obvious bane). So, along with True Caitiff, that gives you a total of eleven clans to pick from, possibly twelve if you include Ravnos as a standalone clan to pick from as well, along with Banu Haqim or Setite (the Giovanni, I think, would have the same issue as the Sabbat clans and so would only be possible starting from Caitiff, and Lasombra are just... too obviously Sabbat).

So, we'd have:

Ventrue (selected, or social Caitiff)

Toreador (selected, or social Caitiff)

Brujah (selected, or social Caitiff)

Gangrel (selected, or social Caitiff)

Tremere (selected, or social Caitiff)

Malkavian (selected only)

Nosferatu (selected only)

And it would add:

Banu Haqim (selected, or social Caitiff)

Setite (selected, or social Caitiff)

Ravnos (selected only)

Tzimisce (social Caitiff only)

Giovanni (social Caitiff only)

True Caitiff (social Caitiff only)

That'd add a ton to it, I think! And yeah, if I can work out a way to get the Lasombra in there too, that'd be cool as well. But yeah, my answer would be to add in more clans, including a Caitiff path that could alternatively add in Tzimisce and Giovanni as well.

[ghost-bard]

based on the info we got so far on the suckening what clans u think each character is from n why

OOOO THANK YOU FOR THE ASK ANON!!!!!

Emizel (Condi):

I think the most likely clans for him are Brujah and Gangrel.

Based of the official character design we've received for him, along with the audio teasers we can tell that he's a bit rough around the edges, and overall probably not the nicest of guys, and the clans that are most stereotypically like that are Brujah and Gangrel (im coping),

He seems like he doesn't care about whats in his way as long as he can get rid of them, and tripping someone just because they looked at him (aka having a bit of a temper) is another point to Brujah.

For Gangrel I'm really just hoping tbh. Its the copium speaking LMAO.

Shilo (Bizly):

Toreador, Lasombra, Malkavian

Shilo, based off his art, is a very extravagant person, wearing very elaborate clothing, and I think older Toreador and Ventrue (tho ive completely ruled out venture bc he sounds so pathetic lmao) are the most likely to have a personal servant of some sort, which in the audio teaser we can tell that Shilo does.

Lasombra is based off something Bizly said on twt, that "[Shilo's] eye's became inky blackness/shadows" or something similar, which is something that can be a side affect of an ability that Lasombra use, but it's something that happens to them when they use an ability, not what happens to someone else when they use it, and Lasombra themselves are very tied to the shadows.

Malkavian is simply bc I think Bizly could pull off playing one I'm gonna be honest, I have no real proof or reason I just think he could pull it off.

??? (Grizzly):

Nosferatu, Tremere, Lasombra, Gangrel (pure copium), Ventrue

Here's the thing. We don't know shit about Grizzly's character other than the fact that he wants them to be a complete mystery, so I don't have a lot to work off of lmao.

My thoughts would be he's either playing a clan that no one would think he'd play (Nos, Gangrel), a clan not available in the base ver of VtM 5e (Lasombra) or a clan that is mysterious (Tremere).

I didn't mention Ventrue in there bc my reasoning for why his character is Ventrue is simply bc his character was in the middle of the group, similar to that of a leader, in the Suckening trailer.

Also if he is playing a Nosferatu i'll be so happy ESPECIALLY since I really don't think anyone would expect that of him given that he plays these like. Beautiful and/or ethereal character's. So playing a character that by default can't be that would be really interesting.

That reasoning is also why I don't think he'd play a Toreador bc it would be so like. Obvious. LMAO. Toreador I think fits exactly what he usually plays almost too well, so I think he'd play something out of left field or something that is similar to what he'd go for without being too obvious yknow.

Edit: ALSO id like to point out that we can assume that theyre Anarchs (one of the 2 main factions in vtm, the other is the Camarilla) bc of the anarchy symbol in the trailer <3

also point to gangrel (im coping) grizzlys pc has a cat so. i can hope.

[voidscreamintheories]

HtP theory D: Who is he really? 2 of 2

This is a continuation from a first post, Spoilers for Hunter the Parenting

Speaking of his age, a few characters have called out D as looking old, decrepit, frail, or sickly. Despite the fact that we see a golden god of a man who honestly looks younger than at least one of his purported children. I don’t think this is wholly wrong on both fronts. You see, there is a particular group in World of Darkness who can only hang around on the normal plane of existence by inhabiting the bodies of the frail, the sick, or the dying. Because I think the D in Big D stands for Demon.

In the World of Darkness, specifically the game Demon the Fallen, “demons” are angels who sided with Lucifer against God. They were cast down into hell, where their angelic forms where forever marred by the torment in the depths. Sometimes, they can make their way out of the pit and back into our world. As mentioned before, and would be the case for the average DtF character, many slip into the body of someone who has a weak grip on their soul and is close to death. From there the demon can either try to redeem themselves, and perhaps find a way back to heaven, or they can just embrace what they have become and be a complete menace on earth. Now in DtF, the ability for demons to come back to earth ON THEIR OWN is VERY recent. However, I think D is a demon who was called to earth by a group somewhat akin to the shaman of his previous life, put into the body of some frail person of a bygone age, and has been trying to reclaim his angelic nature by becoming a protector of mankind from the creatures of the World of Darkness.

Some notes around this:

-In his conversation with Kitten, D mentions hunting a methusala of the La Sombre vampire clan with his siblings. I’m of two minds here, this could mean the children of the shaman-like summoners (if he has a VERY close origin to Big E) or it could mean other fallen angels, who like D are seeking redemption through monster hunting. It would make a lot more sense for a group of former angels to kill an ancient vamp than a family of hunters. This would require though that these summoners pulled a few angels up from the pit, so not sure.

-As for why some see him as old or frail, I think sometimes either the mask slips (maybe because D is stressed, or his angelic nature is weakened) or some level of supernatural ability allows them to see past the angelic personage and into the frail human body beneath. Two of the people who have called him old have either been Tremere or Tremere ghouls, and as I understand some vampire blood magic allows one to see past illusions/veils (and sometimes ghouls get lil bits of power from their vampire blood supply). I looked this one up, it’s the vampire discipline of Auspex, which the Tremere clan does have access to.

-Remold. Remold mentions that Big D’s family and his family have been enemies for generations. If my theory that D is an immortal goofster who has been around for a long time holds true, maybe it’s not so much that the Blacklaws have been at odds with D’s family, but instead against D himself, repeatedly antagonizing them as a living bloodline curse. This might explain his interest in Brok in the recent episode: D knows that once Remold has his Chekhov’s gun of a heart attack, Brok becomes the next Blacklaw that D will be fighting at all times. Why is D antagonizing this family? Well it could be an attempt to beef up some human hunters: If an entire family is constantly having to battle this one madman, and they know of the supernatural, they might become good soldiers against the darkness. Or maybe the Blacklaws have historically been opponents of hunters, Remold does seem to be against knowledge obtained through Big D’s hunts, Brok probably wouldn’t put a lot of time or effort into learning, if previous behaviour is to be believed. Maybe the Blacklaws are anti-intellectual in their history, and D wants to fight them so they can’t dismantle the arcanum or stop hunters by being ignorant. Now, there is a particular lil blue fella that I think bears mentioning, but I would like to discuss that in more detail in its own post, because I think there is a lot to dig into.

Also, quite a while ago I read someone suggest that D in Big D actually stood for Death, as in the rider of the apocalypse, since he does have a horse. This is a neat idea, but I do not know enough about WoD’s story of revelation to be able to discuss it. If this one turns out true, it’d be cool.

For now, thank you for reading this far. As always please let me know your thoughts, and if you are someone who was really engaged with WoD during the original runs, especially Demon the Fallen, please gimme your thoughts. I have a great interest in this setting, but it is very difficult to find info because it was in MANY old books.

As always, good evening.

[casperatu]

27, 36, 39, for Casper, please!

ooh love these

27. does she have a clan she doesn’t particularly like? definitely has developed major distrust for tremere through experience. the chantry in joy noel was never kind to her even with prince’s childe privilege, not to mention they’re the reason she’s currently homeless and one of her closer friends in town is dead because they just can’t stop doing evil secret wizard slavery for some reason, but she regarded everyone there as a huge bitch at best even before that.

36. how old is she now continuing from her embrace? she was 19 when she was embraced in 2004 and in our game it’s still 2022, so she is now 37 pushing 38.

39. could she easily decipher what a malkavian is saying? somehow no, you’d think with her weird malkavian uncle situation that she’d be better at it but their minds (and especially his) are an enigma.

[mscoffeesq]

Vampire the Masquerade: Boston is Healing, Session 1

List of Player Characters, including the initial of their player to denote who played who.

(M) Sophia Blanchard - Toreador, Prince of the Boston Camarilla (Survived) 

(Jaq) Cait Harkness - Salubri, Escaped to parts unknown 

(R) Gabriel Sanders - Ghoul, Deceased (Killed by Malkavian Anarch) 

(S) Aksel Palensen- Tremere, Deceased (Killed in Sabbat Raid) 

(Jac) Roy Vestry - Gangrel, Deceased (Ambushed by a Sniper) 

(R) Geoffrey Williamson - Gangrel, Deceased (Botched a Diablerie Roll) 

(Jaq) Jessie Parks - Caitiff, Deceased (Killed in Sabbat Raid) 

(R) Mama Mtshali - Nosferatu, Deceased (Killed in Sabbat Raid) 

The Story So Far -  

The year is 2022. After a brutal Second Inquisition (SI) attack on Boston the population of Kindred in the city dropped drastically, down to about half of what it once was. The Camarilla, who control the city, lost a prominent Harpy, two Primogen members, and the previous Scourge in the attack. The Prince, Coth, is currently trying to hold his position and repair the city while other parties try and squirm their way into power- the Anarchs have been growing restless, and there are rumors that Sabbat forces have been making designs on the city. Even Clan Giovanni, who spend most of their time in Lynn, have been branching out after the attack to try and secure new territory. Coth has been meeting with the Baron, leader of the Anarchs, in order to broker somewhat of a peace between the two sides. Recently, the Prince has invited a select group of Camarilla to a party within Elysium for a very special, but secretive, event. 

  

Session 1 -  

Gabriel decides to take a walk around his domain to check on things before going off to Elysium. There are currently mortals and ghouls putting up decor and equipment for an event. Some are wearing tiger masks of varying colors. The Keeper, Krow, seems to be talking to a woman, wearing old fashioned dress and heavy dark makeup, a large hat, and orange hair. The woman appears to be being scolded. 

The Elysium is 3 floors, including a hidden basement area. Gabriel sits down at the bar, where a ghoul tells him that the vessels are being reserved for the event coming up. The ghoul offers a boon in exchange for the inconvenience: 2 free vessels the next time Gabriel comes in. 

The ghoul mentions that a very special guest will be coming the following night. Gabriel goes to talk with the Keeper who begins to whisper to the woman before going off to her quarters. Gabriel decides to speak with the woman now that she's alone. The woman is supernaturally beautiful- almost like her features were sculpted to be perfect. 

She introduces herself as Lucy, and offers her hand to be kissed by Gabriel. He notices that her fingernails are long and sharp, and look more like bones pushed out of her fingers to make claws. She says that she arrived in town last week. 

Lucy asks what the crime rate in the city is, and how many crimes Gabriel could pull off without being noticed. He says it depends on the crime. She says that a friend of hers has arrived and leaves to meet up with someone Gabriel didn't notice. 

Aksel is at the closed Boston Aquarium with his sire, Dylan, who asked to meet with him. Richard is wearing casual clothing, with something in his back pocket. Aksel has a plush penguin in his arms as he approaches his sire. 

He gives the penguin to his sire as a gift, before his sire lets him know that a special guest is arriving in the city tonight. He says that it is someone higher up in the ranks of the Camarilla, and that a public announcement of their arrival will be the next evening. 

Dylan also lets Aksel know that he will need to get himself proper attire, as he will be going to the event in his sire's stead. His sire also tells him that his groupies will not be invited to the party, so not to bring them. He also mentions an "accident" (murder) in a theater in town- and to keep an eye out for trouble. The party is scheduled for 9pm the next night. 

His sire says that he'll be returning to his school for thaumaturgy and bids Aksel a good night. Aksel steals a crocodile plushie on his way out. 

Roy is at his house, and hears a knock at the door. Immediately the door is kicked and someone is trying to get into the house. A bird flies into the room before the person manages to break in, 

and it's Roy's sire and wife, Stephanie. 

She is upset after an altercation with a raccoon who stole her ball with her hamster inside. On top of that, the bag she's carrying breaks and spills its contents all over the floor. Some birds come in and help clean it up. 

She asks Roy how he's doing, and Roy says that he's been working on his book. She lets him know that there was a letter for him. It's in a black envelope, and written on very nice paper. 

The letter is from Krow, letting him know of the upcoming event and contact information for him to get in touch with. There is also a threat to not embarrass anyone. 

Stephanie is shocked to see the letter once she reads it. She suggests he go, because she believes it will be some sort of promotion. She also suggests bringing a gift, because the Prince likes gifts, and recommends a dove.  

Roy starts preparing his formal clothes for the next day. 

Sophia takes Cait to her favorite club in town- the Delirium. Carl the bouncer of Delirium lets them in no problem. The bar is jungle themed, but also sort of like an idea of heaven mixed with a jungle. The staff wear animal masks and angel outfits with small angel wings. The wings don't appear to be connected to their clothes though, and move as if they are natural wings. 

The club is very packed. The rules are that you can feast on anyone you want except staff, you just can't kill people. Cait uses Auspex and notices 3 other Kindred in the club, including the owner who seems uninterested in what's going on. 

Sophia scans around the club and sees a gentleman who looks out of place and like he was dragged to the bar. Sophia taps his shoulder and introduces herself. He says that the owner has been throwing him off and says that her tongue is weird.  

Sophia grabs the man, Will, by the arm and takes him to meet Ember. Her tongue sticks out a bit but she pulls it back. Ember offers to take him to show him around the club. He notices her eyes. Will still goes with her, and points out another Toreador in the bar. 

There's another woman in the bar who appears to be very drunk. Sophia passes up the opportunity to drink because she doesn't want to get too drunk and instead takes Cait out to dance. Sophia accidentally steps on a black envelope. The stamp on the envelope is a Krown with a cross on it. The letter is written in Spanish, not in English. 

Ember stops the two of them, whispers something to an angel, and brings out a bottle to give to Sophia that smells extra sweet. Sophia and Cait go off back to Cait's apartment to see if her girlfriend can read the letter for them. 

Cait's fiancée, Maria, is watching TV when they arrive. She translates it for them, but seems confused and concerned. She says that there's a party at the Langham Hotel. The invitation seems to be for someone named Isabelle or Isabella Ferrari. It also seems to mention the Friends of Night. 

 Maria lets Cait know that her friend Sakura was there earlier and left a notepad for her. Sophia decides to leave the two of them alone for the night to go enjoy herself, but tells Cait they will be clothes shopping before the event. 

Maria says that she should go in order to keep Sophia safe, but Cait promises to leave if things go south. She also tells Cait about an attack on the theater, where some audience members were disoriented and some were even still singing when they were found. Police said there were heavy casualties, but are stumped by it. 

Gabriel goes to pick up a suit before the event. Something sensible that won't stand out too much. He also makes sure his car is working well. 

Aksel makes sure that he has a suit ready to go, one that is used for occult gathering. He also attempts to steal a penguin from the aquarium but fails. He calls his mentor, Richard, to ask what the proper attire would be to make sure he is right. 

Roy prepares his suit and then goes to find a dove to give the Prince as a present, but only manages to find pigeons. Even then he's not able to catch any. 

Sophia enjoys a nice bath and the blood she got from Ember while making calls to set up a limo and new clothes for her and Cait. 

Cait decides to call her sire, Deirdre, to ask about the Friends of the Night and the seal on the letter. The Krown symbol appears to be Lasombra, but she isn't familiar with the Friends of the Night. Deirdre also warns Cait to not be out by herself, as things haven't been safe. 

As Sophia goes to pick up Cait, she notices a woman outside struggling. The woman says she's a friend of Cait's from school. Sakura had come over to hang out with Maria while they're out 

tonight. 

Sophia takes one of the coffees meant for Cait which she had to turn down, but Sophia spits it out in a bush once they're all inside. They continue on to the hotel, with Cait changing into 

her nicer outfit Sophia got for her. 

Aksel, Gabriel, and Roy arrive at the hotel together. They are catching up together when Sophia and Cait arrive. They talk together for a bit, when Gabriel notices Lucy arrive. Sophia and Gabriel notice that she's not going into the regular entrance to Elysium. 

The desk attendant, Juliet, asks us for our invites. She is confused by the fact that Sophia and Cait's invite is different from the others. She takes Aksel and Roy's invitation no problem. When she gets to Cait and Sophia’s invite, she calls her partner Romeo to the desk. Romeo is very well dressed, and could be a Ventrue or Toreador. Romeo runs off, while Juliet questions us: Romeo comes back and sends them in, but does not give the invite back like they had for the others. Juliet gives the group five cards, one for each of them. 

Sophia admits to Aksel that they weren't actually invited, and asks if Isabelle or Isabella Ferrari means anything to anyone. Roy thinks the name sounds familiar, they are an important Kindred, but he doesn't know for which clan. Aksel knows that they're an important member of the Camarilla. A high ranking society member. 

Sophia wonders how the invite for such a high up member would have wound up on the floor of Delirium. Isabella Ferrari is the daughter of the Ferrari CEO. She always seems to be near a body of water in every picture. She has a tattoo of a name in German, possibly a company or something. 

When they enter Elysium, Cait activates Auspex. She catches 13 pale auras (Kindred) among a lot of vessels. The Ventrue and Tremere Primogens also appear to be there. 

Aksel goes to speak to the Tremere Primogen briefly before going to a powder room and then rejoining the coterie. 

A bit later, someone approaches us who looks very rough compared to everyone else and is dirty and bloodstained. He plops down next to Aksel and introduces himself as Jakeup Cooper. Jakeup is confused as to why he's at the event. Sophia recognizes him and he recognizes her. She knows that he's a Gangrel. 

He's usually seen conversing with an odd gentleman who visits Elysium now and then. He wonders where the Prince and Sheriff are, and points out that the dress code is odd. They all get into a tiff about tailcoats, before Jakeup points out to the Keeper who looks angry and ready to snap. 

Jakeup wonders who the special guest is. Apparently, we're the only coterie at the event which is why he wanted to hang out with us. He claims that he doesn't want to talk to anyone because they're mostly Tremere or Toreador. He says that he spends most of his time by the harbor. 

He asks us our names, and we introduce ourselves. Aksel performs a sleight of hand trick for everyone. The lights begin to dim. We get on the subject of kids (as in vampire children, who could be any age) because Jakeup mentions a kid he adopted. Aksel says he adopted 3 other people's kids, sort of. 

The Keeper gets everyone's attention and lets the crowd know that the Prince is running late. She says that the special guest is here to speak with the group because of our special skills. A shadow takes the form of a person, who is supernaturally beautiful with a symbol tattoo that none of us recognize. 

She introduces herself as Silhouette. She says she is looking for an object, a sort of black and silver key with three bits. All of us survived the attack, and are loyal to the camarilla. She wants us to search the city for the key, and promises a reward to whoever finds it. Gabriel and Sophia realize that she's heading to the large pool within Elysium after she finishes. 

We ask Jakeup to leave so we can speak alone. Gabriel looks under the cushions to see if the key is under there. They talk for a while before Aksel goes off to get a drink. Suddenly, the doors are pushed open by the Prince, Coth, and his Sheriff, Emma. He starts talking with the Keeper, and asks where the special guest is. 

The Sheriff whispers something to him, and he turns to look at us. Krow hands him a tablet which he checks before handing it back and walks over to our coterie and asks us our names. He's fairly familiar with Sophia, Gabriel, and Roy's sire Stephanie. 

The dress code was apparently a request from Silhouette. He wishes us well, and recommends the blood for the evening. We are all talking again when the Prince suddenly comes back, and demands that the five of us go speak to Silhouette. Aksel asks quickly if the Prince's nickname, The Three Legged King, refers to his endowment or not, and if it's okay to call him that. The Prince seems to be okay with it and finds it humorous. 

We go to meet with Silhouette, and there are tendrils reaching around her in the pool. She confronts us over the fact that most of us were not actually invited to the event, and wonders if someone was trying to get us killed. She invites us to swim with her. Gabriel jumps in and discovers that the tendrils are actually coming off of her dress. 

She asks if we still intend to find the key. We discover that her name is Isabella. She asks if we're associated with the Camarilla, and we explain our ties to the faction. She asks for Romeo to be summoned. Isabella recommends we go to the Empyrium Theater, where the attack happened. She assumes that the attack was caused by something searching for the relic. 

Romeo comes back with the letter Sophia and Cait had found and Isabella tears it up and destroys it. She asks that we not cause any issues in the city while she is observing things. One of the attendants says that Juliet needs Isabella's attention because of trouble in London. 

Aksel remembers the conversation earlier and says that he adopted his brother's kids until they became adults. Gabriel dries himself off. By the time we return to the party, most of the Kindred are gone and only a few people are left. 

Sophia and Cait run back by Sophia's apartment to change into more sensible clothing, and Sophia grabs her pistol. Gabriel runs back to his place to change and grab his rifle. Roys heads back to his place to change and sees his sire sleeping on the sofa, covered in bunnies. Aksel goes home to change, calls his mentor, and sets up a few things for his business. 

Aksel's mentor says that he's familiar with the name Isabella Ferrari, and that she's a Lasombra Antitribu Archon. Richard says he's concerned about things with her in town. 

Sophia finds a letter on her table. White with a rose design on it. The letter is written in messy cursive. 

“Pleasure to meet you! This is weird, but I'm making my way to Boston. We are technically sisters and I'd like to meet you. I should be there in around 3 days, and I'm looking forward to seeing you. I don't really know how to end a letter, 

Okay bye!” 

Sophia is a little upset because this implies that Russel sired another vampire, who is on her way to Boston now. 

End of Session 1 - 3 xp gained per player. 

[omegaversereloaded]

Saw the ny by night mention didnt know you're a vampire head. Favorite clan? Mines probably Tzmisce or Gangrel

im a malk in my current vtmb playthrough and i love them a lot!! but i also like brujah, ventrue and tremere ^__^

[the-road-from-calvary]

27 and 42

((I am a fool who reblogged this while on mobile, forgive the questions not being word for word-

27. Clan they don't like:

See, I think the expectation is for me to say Brujah here. But that's a misconception - she actually really likes Brujah. The feeling isn't particularly mutual because many Brujah don't tolerate how -vague gesture at her whole. self- she is, but she really values the idea that they're dynamic & challenge a complacent status quo & that by resolving that challenge, the society is made better. She thinks they're funny, and she genuinely likes having them around, and in some ways, admires them.

Tbh, she's pretty open to most people, regardless of clan. She'll decide a particular individual isn't worth much, but rarely would she consider an entire clan inherently dislikable. However- Antonia loves all clans equally. [Earlier that day]:

Antonia does not much care for the Tremere. Part of this is competiton - she likes to make her domains in college campuses, and the Tremere often do as well. They definitely do in OKC. So she kind of distrusts them on principle of competing over domain, even if they currently each have a different college.

But she also finds them kind of insufferable. This is because she and they are the same kind of insufferable. Like two magnets with the same charge. She also kind of thinks their fixation on the occult is head-in-the-clouds nonsense that distracts from the reality of day-to-day for everyone else.

42. Alternate clan they'd thrive in:

Early on in her creation, my ST pointed out her (mortal) academic specialty could have drawn attention from Lasombra. I am not mentioning this bc I think she would have thrived among the Lasombra but because sometimes I think abt it bc au!Lasombra!Antonia hot.

Realistically, and while she's self-aware to know this, she would never admit it: she'd probably best thrive among the Tremere, if she couldn't be Ventrue. What can I say, this girl loves a bureaucracy, overly complicated social systems & academia are her natural habitat. She wasn't particularly interested in the occult, but really it's just a hop and a skip over from theology, so she'd have made good, I think. Which is pretty funny, see above.

[robotslenderman]

Do you have any suggestions for writing Strauss? I was thinking of doing an LA by Night fanfic and I’m a little unsure of how to incorporate his old characterization from Bloodlines with the characters introduced in the series. Thanks a bunch!

So I wouldn't know about his LAbN characterisation, but I'll comment with what I've noticed of VTMB!Strauss and hopefully that will help!

He's a very rare character in that he's both very stoic, but also very expressive. His emotions don't really bleed into what he's saying, he keeps an even and professional tone... but his body language is something else entirely. He speaks with his hands, he leans back and forth, he moves his body around. When he's excited his voice will continue to have a bit of a calming drone to it, but his hands would probably act completely differently -- moving around quickly, maybe a clap, head moving all about the place.

He likes fledglings, he likes to teach, he likes to guide. He'd be a sterner teacher than most, I think, but would also adapt his technique to the student, and in exchange expect more from them. That part is speculation though.

He's a very good example of Nice Is Not Good. In VTMB he's the only person that treats the fledgling with an ounce of respect, but... he's also the character (that we know of) that's done the worst deeds, second to only Andrei -- he made a gargoyle, and gargoyles are made in a process that involves torture and agony for the Kindred that are made into one.

Along those lines he's also pragmatic. He doesn't see the point in swinging his dick around just because he can like other elders do. He treats people with polite respect regardless of whether or not they can do anything for him. He's also opportunistic -- when they can do something for him, he uses that respect to his advantage.

Wants power, but not in ways that are immediately obvious; he remarks that he's not interested in becoming Prince of LA (but will go for it when the opportunity presents itself later), but mentions that he aspires to far greater heights. We never find out what those heights are.

A lot of people suspect he's in LA either because he's in the "naughty corner" (LA seems to be the place that Camarilla send their most annoying members), or because he deliberately wanted to be away from the scrutiny of the rest of the Pyramid. Given that Kindred are pretty evil as a baseline, and that the Tremere are eviller still, this would indicate that Strauss would have to be a whole lot worse if he's either in trouble with or afraid of getting in trouble with the Pyramid. Like holy shit how depraved would you have to be to be worried about them getting mad at you? (Some have pointed out it might be because of the gargoyle, which could be true but also doesn't disprove my point here either.)

(That, or he's a potential defector, which is unlikely given that a Malk Fledgling comments on his loyalty to the Pyramid; he is clan before sect to the end.)

TL;DR: Affably Probably-Eviller-Than-Most-Tremere-Which-Is-Seriously-Saying-Something nerd who likes to teach, is very calm and controlled but very expressive with his body language and hands. Very chill, and strongly loyal to the Pyramid. Would torture your best friend to death For Science but be exceedingly polite to them in the process.

Not sure if that helps at all lol.

[blighted-elf]

what clans do you think will be playable at launch? and the dlc ones later i guess.

This is going to be a bit of a loaded and Opinionated reply to such a simple question, so I'm apologising in advance lmao.

Brujah is officially confirmed. Toreador and Ventrue are playable in almost every VtM video game, so they're very likely. I assume the fourth will be Tremere. Then for the first DLC, probably either Nosferatu or Malkavian. Iirc Nosferatu Malkavian were originally going to be added in later due to them needing extra development time, so maybe that will be the case again. (Edit: Got two of my favourite clans mixed up, embarrassing) For the second DLC, I'm thinking maybe they'll go with Lasombra as their "surprise" clan mentioned here.

We got this concept art from the video mentioned above. Not sure if they are supposed to represent any archetype in particular (the first is very typically Brujah), or just showcase some fashion ideas.

This isn't a dig at the clans themselves and I know it's probably an unpopular opinion but I genuinely feel as though when we get such a small selection, adding Toreador, Brujah and Ventrue is a bit unnecessary given their overlapping Disciplines. Removing Toreador would make the most sense, but I doubt they'd do that given they're so popular. Having clans that are very different from one another when it comes to Disciplines, clan history and archetypes makes replayability more interesting just imo. It would also help people who maybe don't play the TTRPG become more familiar with the others. There are a lot of cool clans and bloodlines that get sidelined. I think my crankiness here comes from really wanting a video game where we can play as a Ravnos, Hecata, Tzimisce, various bloodlines, etc. instead of the pre-Revised edition Camarilla seven they almost always seem to choose from. In saying that, we did recently get a VR game where you play a Banu Haqim which was a nice surprise. I need to get around to looking up a playthrough of it.

[gorbalsvampire]

Hiya, nice to meetcha. Anyway… I was a little curious since mentioned something about your treatment of the Tremere and was curious about that little detail. How exactly are the Usurpers treated in this little corner of the internet?

Short version: they're not mages and they never were: they're alchemists. They stumbled into vampirism by accident and decided to take over.

The context is...

Well, first up I find the Tremere/Tzimisce/Salubri metaplot very overcooked. It's top level Antediluvian find-the-lady that has no relevance to playable characters, just impact. It's superhero comic plotting, nerdism run wild. I have a fundamental distaste for how the official materials present those three clans in particular and I'll take any excuse to knock them down a peg or two.

But also: I'm tidy minded, and I've been a development editor for RPGs, and as such... I loathe Thaumaturgy. I see a power set that works nothing like any of the others (instead of 1-10 linear progression it's a series of 1-5 scaling options, instead of stat+skill like everything else in the game it runs off Willpower) and a) I want to know why and b) I think that needs a rework, because for some reason you, the developer, decided to break your own rules at publication point.

b) is easy. You, the developer, didn't need to do that. Kill your darlings, especially in game text where your darling is adding brain wrinkles to the whole process of play.

a) is fascinating. There is some industry scuttlebutt that I can't verify, and it goes like this:

Before Vampire, the same-ish team worked on Ars Magicka. (RPG where you play Hermetic wizards and their associates caught up in complex inter-House politics spanning a fantastic version of early thirteenth century Europe. It has a neat verb-noun spellcasting system, and the cool then-innovation of people running multiple characters so they can switch out to suit the needs of the scene or story. It's a good game. None of this is Ars Magicka's fault.)

When Vampire came along, someone on the team, someone without whom the new game would be dead on release, folded his arms and said he wouldn't work on it if he couldn't port in his Ars Magicka character, effectively holding Vampire development hostage. Thus House Tremere became Clan Tremere, and the wizard spells received a whatever-he's-happy-with implementation, and we have all had to put up with decades of "there's a Path for that" largely because someone had a mantrum back in 1990.

As I say, can't prove it, and it would be outright libel for me to name names, but it certainly feels true based on how the Tremere were implemented into both system and setting.

Anyway, Bloodlines did it right - here's a series of wizard spell powers that all riff on the theme of blood in some way, and that exist in the same mechanical framework and structure as every other Discipline - and I'm glad V5 took its design cues from there.

I'm fine with Rituals existing for that toolbox aspect, I just think the game loses something when you have someone literally playing by different rules to throw around fireballs and lightning bolts and do teleports, for no good reason other than internal company politics from thirty plus years ago.

[science-slapfight]

ROUND 1 POLL 11

16. Anton (He/Him) @poicyss

Sooo... Kicks my feet... Anton is a little different :)

You see, he IS the study! Sort of. Anton is a shadow creature (named A Shadow of Doubt by researchers before he named himself) whose whole deal is to shapeshift to fit into other groups for survival, usually preying on them and their resources. He was captured by the agents of a certain Lobotomy Corporation to be in locked into containment. However, he took a liking to the agents who observed him, and quickly developed his own human body to help them do their jobs and contain and observe other monsters. Because he's all about fitting in he's really good at gathering information through attachment type work, and since his body isn't real if he is harmed in any way he'll appear the next day under the shadows of the rising sun like brand new. It's very neat! But nobody likes him because he's scary! Even if at this point, he's basically just a normal guy... He's been playing human for so long, the only thing really separating him from one is his appearance. He's very eager to help and no longer wants to destroy, but to learn and make friends :) He's nice he promises! Just look at that big ol grin.

Relevant Links: https://toyhou.se/12298764.anton

30. Lyssa Breach (She/Her) @slcknasty

A scientist, and also a wizard! A wizard scientist! Also, a truly horrible woman whose only real passion is for her research.

She's a Vampire the Masquerade OC and a member of the Tremere clan, who are known for being strictly hierarchical, vigorously defending the secrecy of their sorcery, and partaking in some very unethical experiments that have all been swept under the rug. Lyssa is a perfect representation of her clan, with both natural talent in her study of Thaumaturgy and a scientist's passion to push the boundaries. As "pushing the boundaries" of blood magic involves a lot of experimentation with people's blood, which is generally hard to get hold of consensually, this makes her not entirely popular with those outside her clan.

Her personality does not help with this reputation. Lyssa walks a fine line between the professional scientist and the vengeful wizard - though she tries to keep a veneer of precise and emotionless efficiency, her temper is incredibly brittle, and she responds to any slights towards herself or her work with absolute fury. Anyone who crosses her is likely to find themselves on the wrong end of her latest experiment, or at least dogged by a petty grudge that will surface at the worst possible moment.

As well as her experiments with blood magic, Lyssa has also ~definitely not~ been dipping her toe into even more unethical magical studies - though it would get her and her entire clan into considerable trouble if it was revealed, she has been attempting to recreate Gargoyles - uncanny creatures made by combining the blood of other vampires. Only one person has discovered what she's working on so far, and she has plans to deal with him...

Fun fact: her hands are permanently stained blood-red as a consequence of all the fucking around with blood magic she's done. She wears gloves all the time to hide this.

Relevant Links: her tag on my vtm blog: https://gehenna-calling.tumblr.com/tagged/tremyssa (may contain mentions of blood etc)

(Image credits: @spellboundcities and @slcknasty, respectively)