Author Topic: (oWoD) Victorian problems  (Read 2304 times)

Offline ariasderros

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(oWoD) Victorian problems
« on: August 16, 2012, 04:03:06 PM »
Help please.
People in my D&D group were talking about oWoD, and wanting to play a game. They didn't know anyone who'd story-tell.

I opened my mouth. :facepalm
"I'd be willing to ST for Vampire or something"

I like Vampire: TM, I've played several games, including 2 with elder creation rules. I've played Werewolf a few times (once as a Bastet), and am now playing Mage.

I've never ST'd before.

They asked for Victorian, and I said yes.

There are apparently a few more people that want to join, enough that I had to start saying "no, too many already".

So here I am, with my notes for a game set in a time I've never been to (1885), in a place I've never been to (Edinburgh), in a role I've never been in before (I've DM'd, but never ST), with a group larger than any I've ever played with before (6, not including myself, that's 6 players).

I will be posting my notes below. Any help, additional recommendations, advice, &c. would be appreciated.
Critiques accepted, ripping on me is not, remember to be excellent to each other.

Especially help with what other rumours I could add.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2012, 04:09:43 PM by ariasderros »
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Offline ariasderros

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Re: (oWoD) Victorian problems
« Reply #1 on: August 16, 2012, 04:03:20 PM »
Setting

Edinburgh, Scotland. April 19, 1885.
Less than ten years ago, there was an earthquake in the southwest area of England. Less than five years ago, there was a massively powerful windstorm that hit a fishing village in the lowlands of Scotland.
Freak, but natural, accidents as far as most were concerned. The kine still believe so. The kindred now believe those events were practice.
January 12 of 1885, Edinburgh was hit. The winds hit first, but were quickly accompanied by an earthquake as well. Much of the cities industries were ruined.
Before this event, Edinburgh was a free state in kindred society. Neither sect held power in this city. Most of the British Isles are under the sway of the Camarilla, and the Camarilla has never been a group to settle for “most”. The Sabbat is constantly trying to gain footholds in the Isles. Edinburgh has maintained its “free-state” status by the efforts of a group known as “The Hands of The Marquis”. This group was, and is, led by the enigmatic Marquis.
[For those that do not know, Camarilla has Princes, Sabbat has Archbishops, Independent cities are ruled by Marquis. However, the one who “rules” Edinburgh has never been named, thus being the equivalent of having a person in charge of a Camarilla city being known only as “Prince”]
Since the Great Disaster of Edinburgh the sects have been trying to take advantage of the cities weakness and take control of it for their own.
First came the Sabbat war-packs. Vicious, chaotic, frenzy-fueled attack squads intent on taking down anyone who dared defy the Sabbat right to rule. They came into the city in the confusion of the disaster, and quickly started trying to eliminate the main defense the city had, The Hands.
Then came the Camarilla. Their tactics were far more subtle, and much more political. Promising aid in the recovery from the disaster. Promising aid against the Sabbat’s war-packs.
Both of the sects have been recruiting anyone they can from the city. The Hands of the Marquis have been increasing their numbers as well.

Edinburgh. Battleground of the British Isles. The Sabbat, trying to gain ground in the Isles, would revel in the ability to take a major city to use as a base of operations in their war against the Camarilla. The Camarilla trying to deprive the Sabbat any ground in the Isles, as well as securing their own domination and “ownership” of the Isles. The Hands of the Marquis, trying to preserve the cities independence, as a safe ground for those who’d prefer not to deal with the sects, their politics, their engagements, all of their never-ending, convoluted jihads.

The Kindred have been warring here. This has attracted attention that the kindred would rather not have. Hunters, Lupines, anyone with a grudge against the supernatural, or against vampires in particular. Here, in these streets, there be monsters. And the monsters do not like each other.

About You

You’ve lived here in Edinburgh for at least a year prior to the disaster. You had managed to have some form of business or income. You had a haven of some sort. You were quite well off, in point of fact. Your source of income has dried up. Maybe your business was destroyed in the disaster, maybe your congregation no longer had any money due to their own troubles to maintain your tithe, or perhaps whoever was funding your research has stopped doing so. You still have a haven, and a few possessions that belie your previous affluence, but you no longer can afford to increase your possessions.
Since the disaster, you’ve managed to stay out of the conflict. It simply wasn’t, in an obvious fashion, conducive to your own goals to bend knee to any of the vying powers. You’ve even managed to evade being a random victim of the Sabbat packs. Maybe you were that stealthy, maybe you were that plucky, but most likely you were just lucky.
The rest of your story is up to you.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2012, 04:05:09 PM by ariasderros »
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Offline ariasderros

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Re: (oWoD) Victorian problems
« Reply #2 on: August 16, 2012, 04:03:34 PM »
The List of Fuck You

•   RTFM. If you plan to be a social master to rival any (other?) Ventrue, know the extents and limits of Presence and Dominate. If you plan to make a Path follower, know the differences in the rules, including character creation. I know most people aren’t going to know 99% of the rules of the game, but when thinking about what you want your character to be or do, at least read that, if nothing else.
•   Because of your characters previous monetary affluence, you start out with 2 free dots in Resources. “Free” meaning: they do not count against your character creation dot allocation for Backgrounds, or your Freebie point expenses. That said, because of your current destitution, those two free dots in Resources are the total extent of your possessions. You cannot increase your Resources during character creation, nor can you purchase any Merits that represent property. You have a haven (home). Details of your belongings and your home are up to you. No Gatling Guns. Yes I know there are rules for getting Gatling Guns. No Gatling Guns. Medieval armour will only be funny at first.
•   Reminder: if any supernatural type can do something, then all of the others can too. Some things are much easier for one type than another, but the point stands. In example: just because the I describe you experiencing something akin to the Vampiric Discipline of Presence, doesn’t mean that it isn’t a Gift of a Werewolf (cat, bear, croc, crow, etc.), Rote of a Mage, Power of a Sprit, or ya’ know, Vampiric Presence.
•   I am not all-knowing. I might WILL get the rules wrong at times. Be nice. I ask that you know what your character can do. I am making the attempt to know what everyone can do. Head only so big. Have and will fuck up. Be nice, cause you will too.
•   I am not all-knowing, and this is taking place in a place and time I have not been to. If there is something that is important to you, try to tell me before it comes up, or be quiet and nice about informing me of it when (or after) it does come up. There are details I know. The multitude of things I know is only dwarfed by the sheer vastness of what I don’t. Be nice. Because I can have a psycho ask you your “English ABC’s”, ready (and able) to kill anyone who gets it wrong (hint: 27, not 26), or something like that.
•   I am not a Polyglot, Ventriloquist, or Voice Actor. I don’t do voices. This takes place in Edinburgh. Proper English, Welsh, Cockney, Scottish, Irish, and all of their many, many, MANY, derivatives and combinations and accents and dialects etc. etc. etc., are all around you. I will describe them. I might use an occasional, appropriate to character, phrase from the area and/or time frame, this generally means the character has probably used more than one. If I present a character and I start using an accent, it is because their accent is THICK. If I start using a lot of phrases, mixing them, and am speaking (or trying to miserably) with an accent, and you can’t tell what in the hell I am talking about through the jibber-jabber, I guarantee you, your character isn’t likely doing any better. Think Joe Dirt “Home is where the heart is”.
•   Description: Use adjectives. They add flavour and depth. Use analogies, they can easily be the spice that brings life to the game. I will be giving most NPC’s close to the same level of description. So don’t try to meta-game that the fist bum you talk to for more than five minutes is someone important in disguise just cause I keep adding details: he is probably just a bum. Probably: I don’t know what bums you plan to talk to.
•   

Yes, that's what I call it. The last bullet is because I know there was something else, but I can't remember it when I sit down to write.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2012, 04:06:54 PM by ariasderros »
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Offline ariasderros

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Re: (oWoD) Victorian problems
« Reply #3 on: August 16, 2012, 04:03:50 PM »
Rumours of People, Places and Things.
An Article by Jack Caymore
“Gentleman Jack’s Tales from Wales and Elsewhere”

Your characters will likely not know most of this information. How much they know depends on background, starting stats (streetwise, various backgrounds, et alli), and accord between you and I. This is mostly to help you out with knowing what there is to know, and maybe giving you an idea what you might want to know at character creation.

The title of this section: “Gentleman Jack’s Tales from Wales and Elsewhere” is a weekly rag. Rag is not quite the same as newspaper (less “integrity”). Rag is not quite the same as a tabloid (more accurate). “Gentleman Jack’s Tales from Wales and Elsewhere” is a rag that lets people write. Some are very journalistic people, some writers just want to be writers. Jack Caymore started the rag out in, obviously, Wales going around writing down the word on the street, chasing rumours. Some rumours are truer than others; some of the writers for the rag have been the ones to start the rumours. Jack also uses his publication company to print a lot of Penny Dreadfuls (one shot comic books), which he mostly started doing to let some of his writers get out some of their most fictional ideas, as well as the occasional thinly-veiled political statement.
-I will not be writing up full articles or anything, this is mostly background for when you hear “Extra! Extra! Plot hook imminent!”.

The Marquis: He is a 3 meter tall (~9ft) midget, who is as dark as all the Africans from his part of Asian-America, he loves to dance as he stands still, came to Edinburgh all the way from his hometown of Edinburgh, and is, of course, a Fourteenth Generation Antediluvian that was embraced just last year in Nod. He doesn’t always buy midget hookers, but when he does, he pays half price. [/sarcasm]. No one can confirm actually knowing anything about him. Some say he is overwhelmingly powerful, some say he leads The Hand by being charismatic, but is otherwise useless. Some say he is a she. Some say that there is only The Hand of The Marquis, and that there isn’t actually a single leader of the group, or at least not a Marquis. You may have met him and not know it, if he/she/it does exist.
-Any Questions?

The Disaster: Most popular rumour is that it was an attack perpetrated by thaumaturgy. Most popular spin on that is that it was the Sabbat as a precursor to the rest of their attack. Others think that it was the Camarilla trying to set up the city to need their aid (after all, it is much easier to claim power when it is handed to you). There are also those that believe that it was done by the Marquis, though the motivation varies from story to story (boredom?).
-It happened, deal with it.

Hunters: The Church, state-sanctioned monster hunters, Wardens (A.K.A. Glass Walkers, for the Werewolf-savvy), et alli. Most interesting is the group that calls themselves “The Hunted Hunters”. Their group is mostly kindred, but does include token members of the other supernaturals too. This group are united by their united belief in salvation. Whereas the Church’s hunters will kill you just for being what you are, The Hunted Hunters will give you a chance to be a decent creature, or at least a chance to prove that you are evil. After all, they’re the same “species” as you. The main reason to notice this group over the others is twofold: first, they are even more likely to notice you for what you are than any of the others; second, their pretty much the only group that would grant you any quarter until they make up their mind about you.
-Groups that want to kill you, and are good at it. Pretty strait forward really.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2012, 04:10:34 PM by ariasderros »
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Offline ariasderros

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Re: (oWoD) Victorian problems
« Reply #4 on: August 24, 2012, 11:33:48 AM »
 :poke
Bump
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