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[Drakilian]

It's like saying you're a necromancer because you can see spirits, or that you're a Master of wind because you can carry your whispers.

[Bo]

See, just because you have a single level in something doesn't mean you really "have" that discipline.

THough I only have two levels...

[Drakilian]

THough I only have two levels...

You have precisely 0 levels of Auspex XD

[Bo]

You have precisely 0 levels of Auspex XD

Celerity, Auspex, same thing.

[BerkaZerka]

Celerity, Auspex, same thing.

HURRAY! I have Celerity!!! 

[Sethaniel]

Also, picky picky I know, but apparently Kindred invented gender equality.  Not to mention, at this time literacy shouldn't be a given. 

The whole point of a chronicle spanning 800 years shouldn't be just "get more powerful."  It's that the world changes.  Not just enemy types, or new weaponry.  Aesthetically, ethically, the world now isn't like it was 800 years ago.  Being a vampire should be about things like whether you change when the world does, or hold on to your old self- and that should and would affect what happens to you.


It's one of my pet peeves, I know, when 11th century characters, or fantasy races, or whatever- have the mindset and worldviews of modern day people. It's just ingrained in most people, the assumption that our current sense of aesthetics has always been, that what we find ethical and moral is the way people have always thought-- or that that's the way they should have thought.  (Like how the hero characters always embrace feminism instantly once it's pointed out to them that women are people.)

[Sethaniel]

Edit: It's been pointed out to me that "no one wants to play with the history police."

I know, it's just a game & the point is to have fun.

I'm interested in the ideas I've mentioned as an intellectual discussion. I don't get to talk to many halfway-intelligent people in daily life.

[Drakilian]

Also, picky picky I know, but apparently Kindred invented gender equality.  Not to mention, at this time literacy shouldn't be a given. 

It's one of my pet peeves, I know, when 11th century characters, or fantasy races, or whatever- have the mindset and worldviews of modern day people. It's just ingrained in most people, the assumption that our current sense of aesthetics has always been, that what we find ethical and moral is the way people have always thought-- or that that's the way they should have thought.  (Like how the hero characters always embrace feminism instantly once it's pointed out to them that women are people.)



The whole point of a chronicle spanning 800 years shouldn't be just "get more powerful."  It's that the world changes.  Not just enemy types, or new weaponry.  Aesthetically, ethically, the world now isn't like it was 800 years ago.  Being a vampire should be about things like whether you change when the world does, or hold on to your old self- and that should and would affect what happens to you.

Well, yeah. I'm pretty sure the kindred don't consider themselves in terms of gender since they're no longer human, they've all been granted the abilities of these dark angels, they're all cursed and blessed with these powers. The elders especially don't care, since they usually just alter themselves over the centuries for some variety (see: every Tzimisce ever. Yorak was embraced as a woman, her preferred form is a feeble old man).

[Forge]

 To be honest I much prefere that things fit the time and setting as if they widely vary then it causes a disconnect for me and breaks Emerson of the game.

On the other hand there are games that it's fine in, like black suits as the entire premise is that the understood state of the world is really an incorrect facade.

WOD kind of feels in the middle as there are aspects that are very specifically the time setting while other aspects don't fit. In this my issue is more working out how the supernatural society fits and how to act in it. I ovbiously gave up on that with Charlie but plan to do it again with ?Gorn and Heldric.

[Bo]

Plus, when a female vampire can crush you just as easily as a male vampire, I would assume that the race eventually discarded any ideas of inequality. Not to mention the fact that female nobles were still treated pretty well and some were even trusted with ruling small pockets of land (I'm not sure if that specifically applies to the Hungarian region) so the richer female PCs should be treated fairly well by mortals anyway. Now, if you were a poor female the mortals would undoubtably treat you like shit.

Sylvian's just gonna treat every commoner like shit though, so no need to worry about that XD

[Sethaniel]

Plus, when a female vampire can crush you just as easily as a male vampire, I would assume that the race eventually discarded any ideas of inequality. Not to mention the fact that female nobles were still treated pretty well and some were even trusted with ruling small pockets of land (I'm not sure if that specifically applies to the Hungarian region) so the richer female PCs should be treated fairly well by mortals anyway. Now, if you were a poor female the mortals would undoubtably treat you like shit.

Sylvian's just gonna treat every commoner like shit though, so no need to worry about that XD

Sylvain is a commoner.  Unless Drak is saying we can just assume nobility for our mortal lives with no point cost? 

I forget, I think Lucien might have something like that?

[Forge]

Sylvain is a commoner.  Unless Drak is saying we can just assume nobility for our mortal lives with no point cost? 

I forget, I think Lucien might have something like that?

If kinda fits that despite being a commoner, he moves in noble circles and aspires to such. Therefore acts like one to those he sees as 'below his station' now that he is famous and moves in high society.

How the Nobles think of the way he acts would be interesting though.

There are many stories of the old English courts where members of 'The Court' including servants, entertainers and other commoners took on huge egos, airs and graces and treated other commoners like crap as they believed simply being part of that social situation made them better than others.

[Drakilian]

Sylvain is a commoner.  Unless Drak is saying we can just assume nobility for our mortal lives with no point cost? 

I forget, I think Lucien might have something like that?

It's assumed that that's where his money comes from. Thing is, doesn't matter if you were nobility before the embrace, you can't rule over a mortal family as a vampire, it would be obvious you're not aging and then you'd be killed. You don't get to keep your old family here. So if he was a noble, he isn't anymore, simply enough. Just a travelling rich dude, living off whatever funds he took with him when he left.

[Sethaniel]

It's assumed that that's where his money comes from. Thing is, doesn't matter if you were nobility before the embrace, you can't rule over a mortal family as a vampire, it would be obvious you're not aging and then you'd be killed. You don't get to keep your old family here. So if he was a noble, he isn't anymore, simply enough. Just a travelling rich dude, living off whatever funds he took with him when he left.

Yeah, cause your mortal family also totally didn't notice you took all their money and anachronistic artwork. XD

Right, so I'm asking you, does that mean I can write having been a nobleman into my backstory without spending any points on it?

[Drakilian]

Yep. Just understand that you get absolutely none of the benefits actually being a nobleman.

[BerkaZerka]

What Background actually makes you a Nobel? Standing?

[Drakilian]

Rank (Like the Status background, but for humans). I think.

[Sethaniel]

What Background actually makes you a Nobel? Standing?

Academics. XD

[Bo]

Sylvain is a commoner.  Unless Drak is saying we can just assume nobility for our mortal lives with no point cost? 

I forget, I think Lucien might have something like that?

A commoner with resources of 5 though. Enough to inflate his ego a bit.

[Bo]

Academics. XD

Hey, I've got a 3 in that too XD

[Bo]

A commoner with resources of 5 though. Enough to inflate his ego a bit.

Just to be clear, I'm not actually wanting him to be a noble at all, I just want him to picture himself as one (all the extra moneys just help me out a little). I kind of want it to where He thinks he's hot shit but in reality he's just an ass with a talent for painting.

[Drakilian]

Armor

Once your players know that brigands on the road might use firearms, their natural reaction might be to buy some armor. Roleplaying games tend to have extremely liberal attitudes regarding its use. In many fantasy roleplaying games, for instance, the thought of heroes stomping  mail day and night is accepted as normal. To address the aspirations of players who prefer their characters to walk about like two-legged tanks, we should make two points regarding the use of plate mail. In answer to the first question players have: Yes, plate mail is period. In answer to the second question: No, most players really won’t want their characters to use it.

During this period, full plate is used as early as the beginning of the 15th century – it is typically employed by knights on horseback traveling to war. For a creature of the night, any pretense of subtlety is lost once he begins wandering the woods of Transylvania late at night girded to the teeth for an all-out assault on a neighboring domain.

For a Cainite in plate mail, Dexterity and Perception Dice Pools are reduced by 3. Movement is drastically hindered. Even Cainites using Celerity are slowed considerably. Stealth is impossible without the use of Disciplines; wearing plate mail increases the difficulty of Stealth rolls by 2. Chainmail offers three extra dice for soaking damage with considerably less encumbrance; plate mail provides five dice, but is not worth the trouble.

The sight of a warrior in full-plate riding into a domain can be taken as a hostile gesture, and may result in an immediate counterattack. If you’ve played Dark Ages, you’ve probably already conditioned your players to not bring polearms into taverns or draw ballistae through small towns. The same guideline applies here.

Note that my opinion on Plate mail is shared by this little excerpt from Son of the Dragon (and yes, by the second book firearms are accessible, but trust me when I say they all suck and are worse than bow and arrows).

[Bo]

Just to be clear, I'm not actually wanting him to be a noble at all, I just want him to picture himself as one (all the extra moneys just help me out a little). I kind of want it to where He thinks he's hot shit but in reality he's just an ass with a talent for painting.

Makes sense.

[Drakilian]

Makes sense.

Are you... are you reassuringly telling yourself it makes sense?

[Sethaniel]

Hey, I've got a 3 in that too XD

It was a joke about being "Nobel."

[Bo]

Are you... are you reassuringly telling yourself it makes sense?

Lol I meant to quote you XD

[Bo]

It was a joke about being "Nobel."

I'll go ahead and be both. We'll call it an illiterate noble

[Sethaniel]

I'll go ahead and be both. We'll call it an illiterate noble

Alfred Nobel. . . Nobel Prize. . . When it's spelled "Nobel," my phone autocorrects to add capitalization, so it's like the phone assumed we were talking about the guy/award.

To be a Nobel prize winner, you'd need to put points into academics (yeah ok, there were other knowledges that would work with.)

[BerkaZerka]

But I'd be OK if I drew two ballista through town instead of just one, right? 

[Bo]

Alfred Nobel. . . Nobel Prize. . . When it's spelled "Nobel," my phone autocorrects to add capitalization, so it's like the phone assumed we were talking about the guy/award.

To be a Nobel prize winner, you'd need to put points into academics (yeah ok, there were other knowledges that would work with.)

I got the corny joke, and I topped it with another corny joke. illiterate Noble. Get it? To someone who can't spell they might think Noble was spelt Nobel.

I guess I could have said Dyslexic but it doesn't quite get the same amount of corniness.

[Sethaniel]

I got the corny joke, and I topped it with another corny joke. illiterate Noble. Get it? To someone who can't spell they might think Noble was spelt Nobel.

I guess I could have said Dyslexic but it doesn't quite get the same amount of corniness.

XD

It was early, I was tired.

[Daedalus]

Cant frekking wait to get started.

And seth, sorry i neglected whitechapel while making Lucien.

[Sethaniel]

And apparently it's not really called the Byzantine Empire till the 19th century.  The "Greek-speaking Roman Empire of the Middle Ages"  at the time was still called "The Roman Empire" and its citizens thought of themselves as Romans.

[Drakilian]

Unimportant stuff that Seth is reading about instead of finishing his character sheet.

Ftfy

History doesn't really matter when you bring vampires into the mix and the only important historical events that don't involve fictional areas, locations and treaties. are a crusade that involves fictional characters, events and, yes, areas.

Also, dammit Seth, I don't care what the names for anything were back then, i'm still calling it whatever it's called.

[Sethaniel]

It's not unimportant!  I need that information to know who my character is!

Or are you saying none of that background shit actually matters once the game starts, so just write down whatever? XD

I kind of need to know what relationship I have with my sire; If I've been working for him for seven years, I can't just start playing not knowing if we're friendly or hostile, or indifferent or what.

I'm calling it Byzantium in my backstory, don't worry.  I just thought it was interesting that they didn't actually call themselves that.   

I mean, think about like, if you found out that a thousand years from now, where you live is known as "North American," and they think of Canada and the Caribbean as all being part of the American Empire.

[Drakilian]

It's not unimportant!  I need that information to know who my character is!

Or are you saying none of that background shit actually matters once the game starts, so just write down whatever? XD

I kind of need to know what relationship I have with my sire; If I've been working for him for seven years, I can't just start playing not knowing if we're friendly or hostile, or indifferent or what.

I'm calling it Byzantium in my backstory, don't worry.  I just thought it was interesting that they didn't actually call themselves that.   

I mean, think about like, if you found out that a thousand years from now, where you live is known as "North American," and they think of Canada and the Caribbean as all being part of the American Empire.

Your relationship with your sire is entirely up to you. He'll be friendly (and strict) if you are, he'll be brutal (and strict) if you're disobedient/damage his reputation, he'd kill you if you directly went against him. So, like any vampire.

Right now, depending on how you two are, he could see you as either his favourite servants, useful tools, unpleasant necessities or (later on you'll get the opportunity to get in much better with him) his own two sons.

[cool74]

Nice another game I can watch being played.

[Forge]

Nice another game I can watch being played.

Honestly can't tell is this is sarcasm

[cool74]

Honestly can't tell is this is sarcasm

Its not. I enjoy watching RPGs being played almost as much as playing them. Sure I am disappointed I am not playing but I am fine with it. If done well an RPG almost reads like a novel that has author notes at the end. I enjoy it.

[Daedalus]

So... this went dead?

[Drakilian]

So... this went dead?

Nope. Waiting for the players to finish everything (Seth still has his char sheet to finish up).

[BerkaZerka]

So... this went dead?

When did Cool74 join this game? 

[Daedalus]

Huh? XD

[BerkaZerka]

^ Inside joke (I guess) 

[Drakilian]

Made a change to initiatives.

You can check the Initiative thread to see the precise nature of the change.

[cool74]

When did Cool74 join this game? 

Must be really inside because the joke flew over my head.

But I been here all along. I am like Kellam in fire emblem.

[Bo]

Sorry for not being around as much, We've been having rush this week so I've been trying to recruit some guys

[Drakilian]

Okay, now all I have to do is transcribe the remaining character sheets and make Seth's ghoul/ally. Aman/Seth, I assume both of you know how to follow the format so if you'd like you could make the alterations yourselves, though i'll do them if you don't regardless.

[Not Aman]

If I had my laptop Id do it. On phone it's horrible

[Daedalus]

Sigh* i'll finnish my specialties then.