Dark Ages Vampire - Bloodlines

Game Master Dennis Harry

Bloodlines is a continuation of the now defunct table top Dark Ages Vampire game wherein the PC's have created lineal descendants throughout the ages.

Attendees seeking a seat or have a seat in the Inner Circle:

Assamite - Lord Bajazet al Nasir.

Brujah – Lady Meridie de Chancie, Lord Criatas, “Dark”Selena, Robin Leeland.

Cappadocian – Lord Benne.

Gangrel – Milov Petrankov.

Lasombra - Prince Narses the Archbishop of Nod

Malkavian – Antione le Fanu, Lutz von Hohenzollern.

Nosferatu – Cristo Petradon, Simon.

Salubri – Brian Stack.

Setites – Sadir.

Toreador – Rafael de Corazon, Francois Villon, Helene la Jouste.

Tremere - Radek, Mistress Fanchon.

Tzimisce – Myca Vykos.

Ventrue – Alyssa Gilbert, Lady Jadviga Almanov, Lanzo von Saschen, Prince Alexander.

Remember - only those listed get votes. Of course influencing their Childer can go a long way to getting a vote.

Social Combat:

Let me first thank Sir Dunstan and his excellent Game of Thrones campaign as the inspiration for this rules tweak. A shout out to Vitaliano who also does an excellent job as a player in that campaign.

Game of Thrones has a Social Combat system that, while not translatable directly, I used as inspiration for this campaign.

This is a proposed rules set and I am more than happy to hear feedback from Players before I implement it in full.

Roleplaying is still required to get your point across. However, I think a mechanical system could be beneficial for this scenario, a scenario quite unlike anything I have ever done in a Vampire game before.

Making My Case

To convince a “voter” to side with your Sire, you may roll the following set of Attributes and Abilities:

1. Against someone who is clearly NOT in your favor --- Manipulation+Subterfuge+Politics
2. Against someone who is NEUTRAL – Charisma+Expression+Politics

The difficulty of all rolls is that Cainites Willpower. You will need to score as many successes as they have Willpower to win the contest. Once you engage the voter, you will only have three rounds to make your case and can only attempt do so one time per night.

If you have Presence – Awe or Enrancement, you may attempt to use these powers in conjunction with the above roll. Each success utilizing that Discipline gives you one more success on your total roll.

Beware, failing in using Presence in Elysium can lead to Sanctions by Thomas Brexiano.

Also beware, Cainites may try to turn this system around on you…

But What if Someone Else Tries This on a Voter I just Brought to my Side?

Amount of successes is a key factor here, you will want to score as many success as you can to ensure that a rival does not try to take that vote from you!

Certain NPC’s already believe that others are in their favor and would never change their votes. Those will be the toughest cookies to break.

Note this system cannot be used on:

Your In-Clan rivals, no amount of sweet talking or bribes will change their minds they all want this position badly.

Prince Narses, he simply will not entertain such discourse. Of course, this does not mean you cannot try to get into the ears of one of his Childer to have them speak with him…

Discerning My Quarry’s Intent

How can I tell if someone is for or against me despite what they are saying?

Make a Perception+Empathy+Politics roll.

The difficulty is 10, less that Cainites Humanity score. Those closer to the Beast are much harder to read. For every Century over 300 years that Cainite has lived, the DC will be increased by 1, topping out at 10, as these Cainites have well and truly mastered this game to have existed for so long in the first place.

Once you engage the voter, you will only have three rounds to ferret out their intent and can only attempt do so one time per night. You will need to score as many successes as they have Willpower to ascertain their intent.

If you have Auspex – Read the Soul or Invade the Mind, you may attempt to use these powers in conjunction with the above roll. Each success utilizing that Discipline gives you one more success on your total roll.

How else can I make my case?

The use of Presence, while frowned upon, is much less cause for censure than using Dominate. Dominate does not work on a Cainite whose blood is closer to Caine than your own. If you seek to use Dominate to convince a voter (or perhaps one of the Childer?) to vote for your Sire, it would be best used elsewhere in the city.

Boons – the boon system of quid pro quo can also be used to gain votes. You will need to offer something of course that that voter does not have or cannot get from another candidate.

Eliminate my rivals. This one is obvious though failure to do so without detection may subject YOU to the Final Death!


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Male Italian (Toreador) Bloodpool 27 out of 30
Onfroi wrote:
Regardless of clan one cannot escape politics, the window to power. No one who is over two hundred is going to risk themselves in the fray personally. Its called jyhad for a reason...

I bet you tell little vampires there's no Santa Claus too. Brute :)


Male Nosferatu 6th Generation; BP 28/30, xp saved: 0, spent 155

Oh no Santa is a Malkavian so powerful he has warped the minds of the entire world and its only when mortals come to adulthood that some of them begin to have enough will to resist the dementation...


Shadow's Status

Update tomorrow sorry about that, my wife mistook my day off for do shit around here day...


Male Nosferatu 6th Generation; BP 28/30, xp saved: 0, spent 155

Ah wife agro... the worse ever


Ventrue | Gen 7 | Blood 20/20

Volkov hunting, player botch.


Shadow's Status
Alessandro Khadaji wrote:
Volkov hunting, player botch.

Hah, negative, just gotta make sure you tell the right NPC :-)

Go with the flow see where it takes you!


Shadow's Status

Wow, 12 hours with no player posts after an update? That might be a record! :-)


Doing my darndest to stay out of the lime light


Shadow's Status
Andrew the Hardy, Lord of Moray wrote:
Doing my darndest to stay out of the lime light

Let somebody else be the target of Narses wrath, good idea!


5th Generation Cappadocian | Bloodpool: 29/40 | Willpower: 6/8
Andrew the Hardy, Lord of Moray wrote:
Doing my darndest to stay out of the lime light

Easier said than done...at least your sire didn't just mouth off to him...


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Lorenzo Cappelli wrote:
Andrew the Hardy, Lord of Moray wrote:
Doing my darndest to stay out of the lime light
Easier said than done...at least your sire didn't just mouth off to him...

That was me and my Sire yesterday!


Male Nosferatu 6th Generation; BP 28/30, xp saved: 0, spent 155

Being not seen and not heard... but alas I feel like smacking folks for being rude to Narses hospitality.. so here I go!


Male Nosferatu 6th Generation; BP 28/30, xp saved: 0, spent 155

The infernal wait.... Gah!!


Shadow's Status

Sorry busy last night and today at work, will update this tonight.


Storyteller Shadow wrote:
Sorry busy last night and today at work, will update this tonight.

Still hiding in plain sight....


Male Nosferatu 6th Generation; BP 28/30, xp saved: 0, spent 155

Ah Renerius, speaking on behalf of The enemy... how quaint.


Male Italian (Toreador) Bloodpool 27 out of 30

Well, his nature is innovator ;)


Shadow's Status

Rather than a small post tonight I will make expansive posts tomorrow on this debate a critical one with respect to how the Camarilla will interact with Princes. :-)


Ventrue | Gen 7 | Blood 20/20

You guys went bonkers! Major systems upgrade this weekend... tied up.


Shadow's Status
Alessandro Khadaji wrote:
You guys went bonkers! Major systems upgrade this weekend... tied up.

Well I did say I would have major posts up! :-)


Male Nosferatu 6th Generation; BP 28/30, xp saved: 0, spent 155

I have as a GM and player often thought of this moment for Kindred and its ramifications. The destabilization of princedom to me in some ways fosters the anarch revolt and the subsequent play of the ancients against key princes world wide in Chicago and Germany especially as well as others destroyed entire cities and allowed the sabbat, also born right after these nights, to take hold. This is all coming down to hospitality. The Tzmiche Vykos especially takes his entire clan out of the camerilla and into the sabbat based on the very question we debate as a clan their support of that tradition higher than others forced their hand and with the Lasombra who found the leadership here (as Narses was not here in canon and his weakness on the topic seems most appropriate)weak and lacking and felt along with the Tzmiche that the sanctity of the host and his home protected the elder but was then broken by a group of mostly lasimbra who diablerized their progenator to forstall the final nights and break the cycle of the jyhad and rewrite it, thus turning the very defense of hospitality from the lasombra into a lie which the tzmiche with their loses to the tremere by this time were all too eager to grasp...

Such a vital and key turning point. If only my character could do more or be more here. I so long to save this tradition, turn the tide, stop the birth of the sabbat and anarch revolt, and rewrite history entirely! Sorry for this ooc rant lol


Shadow's Status
Onfroi wrote:

I have as a GM and player often thought of this moment for Kindred and its ramifications. The destabilization of princedom to me in some ways fosters the anarch revolt and the subsequent play of the ancients against key princes world wide in Chicago and Germany especially as well as others destroyed entire cities and allowed the sabbat, also born right after these nights, to take hold. This is all coming down to hospitality. The Tzmiche Vykos especially takes his entire clan out of the camerilla and into the sabbat based on the very question we debate as a clan their support of that tradition higher than others forced their hand and with the Lasombra who found the leadership here (as Narses was not here in canon and his weakness on the topic seems most appropriate)weak and lacking and felt along with the Tzmiche that the sanctity of the host and his home protected the elder but was then broken by a group of mostly lasimbra who diablerized their progenator to forstall the final nights and break the cycle of the jyhad and rewrite it, thus turning the very defense of hospitality from the lasombra into a lie which the tzmiche with their loses to the tremere by this time were all too eager to grasp...

Such a vital and key turning point. If only my character could do more or be more here. I so long to save this tradition, turn the tide, stop the birth of the sabbat and anarch revolt, and rewrite history entirely! Sorry for this ooc rant lol

Who is to say? Perhaps you will have that opportunity :-₩


Male Italian (Toreador) Bloodpool 27 out of 30

Starting Friday, I will be away for a week. I'm not sure how strong my connection is going to be so if you need to 'bot' my toreador I understand, but hopefully it won't be necessary.


Shadow's Status

There are in Court responses I need to get to and will get to tomorrow.

No worries Ranerius.


Shadow's Status

Updates tomorrow night had a super busy night tonight.


Ventrue | Gen 7 | Blood 20/20

Alessandro really isn't in any position to say anything.

Mum's the word. Even Alyssa's comments don't really ask for conversation.


Shadow's Status

Running out of steam will update Luca and Durdona scenes tomorrow.


Shadow's Status

LOL, I can't spend less than an hour updating this thread these days!


Ventrue | Gen 7 | Blood 20/20

Awww.. You love us!


Shadow's Status
Alessandro Khadaji wrote:
Awww.. You love us!

I certainly do and what's not to love!


Shadow's Status

I was always a fan of Goratrix, really enjoyed his response to Fanchon last night and I hope you all did too :-)


Male Italian (Toreador) Bloodpool 27 out of 30

It was telling. :)

Though right now, I'm more worried about my Toreador's Inn/haven ;)


Ventrue | Gen 7 | Blood 20/20

What are Toreadors doing in heaven?


They don't actually go in they just spend eternity staring at the gates.....


Male Italian (Toreador) Bloodpool 27 out of 30

Why would Toreadors be in heaven? Who do you think God hired to do the design? *innocent look*

*Bursts into flame*


Shadow's Status

Updates tomorrow, want to give anyone else who wants to chime in a chance to do so.


Shadow's Status
Ranerius Bernerius wrote:
Though right now, I'm more worried about my Toreador's Inn/haven ;)

I would be more worried for Durdona at the moment! :-)


Storyteller Shadow wrote:
Ranerius Bernerius wrote:
Though right now, I'm more worried about my Toreador's Inn/haven ;)
I would be more worried for Durdona at the moment! :-)

Dun Dun Duunnn!!


Ventrue | Gen 7 | Blood 20/20

Dun Dun Duunnn-stan!!


Shadow's Status

Wife had people over yesterday so could not post. Work today and tomorrow will be f~!$ing crazy so no updates till Wednesday.


Male Italian (Toreador) Bloodpool 27 out of 30

I'm afraid I've lost track of a lot, but I'm back. Now if only I could remember Francois list


Shadow's Status
Ranerius Bernerius wrote:
I'm afraid I've lost track of a lot, but I'm back. Now if only I could remember Francois list

Its somewhere in a spoiler in a post to you I am sure :-)

---------------------------------------

If anyone feels stuck or needs an idea to move forward PM me or let me know here in the OOC thread and I can nudge you along.

I wanted this night and the next series of nights to move along a bit faster than the first night which took a WHILE in RT :-)


Male Nosferatu 6th Generation; BP 28/30, xp saved: 0, spent 155

I just need my sires list and Francois list and then I need to get to work


Clan Malkavian Blood Pool 19/30

Forgive me, I've had a bout of sickness and been fighting against fatigue with all the storms about. I'm am frazzled and lost atm. Trying to catch back up but having a hard time finding the rules for politicking and all that rot.


Still trying to lay low at the moment and hopefully later to get a full briefing on the current nature of the Salubri leadership.....


Shadow's Status
Vitaliano da Riva wrote:
Forgive me, I've had a bout of sickness and been fighting against fatigue with all the storms about. I'm am frazzled and lost atm. Trying to catch back up but having a hard time finding the rules for politicking and all that rot.

I'll repost em tomorrow and add em to the Campaign Tab! Trying to update my other 8 neglected games at the moment. :-)


Shadow's Status

Another big update tomorrow.


5th Generation Cappadocian | Bloodpool: 29/40 | Willpower: 6/8

I will be on a family vacation until Friday. I should still be able to post, but will likely be late in the evening and only once per day.


Shadow's Status

Sorry that big update will have to wait till tomorrow, to much to do around the house tonight!


Ventrue | Gen 7 | Blood 20/20

Cool! Where are you located?

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