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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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Max Blood Pool/Current = 20/10

Xing Shi Prologue:

I don't even have academics listed on my sheet! Even though I took a merit for the extra language I can't read it a bit easier?

Int + Academics
2d10 ⇒ (1, 8) = 9

Shadow's Status

Xing Shi Prologue:
[ooc[ In that case you can't even attempt to read it, without academics you are illiterate, remember only the very few people were able to read until the last century or so. [/ooc]
Unfortunately you are unable to read any of the documentation. However, since you do have it in your possession perhaps you can find someone who does read.

Volkovs, Cappelli, Thesing, and Santo:
Katriana gasps behind Sergei and places her hand on his shoulder. Sergei looks towards Gunther and Michael, lets out a long sigh and speaks.
"Well gentlemen, it seems that Venice is no different from everywhere else we have been. We need to sit down and talk now, for what I tell you might be too much for you to handle."

Volkovs, Cappelli, Thesing, and Santo:

:
Gunther sighs heavily under his breath.
"Well then, let's not waste any time and get right down to it."

Max Blood Pool/Current = 20/10

Xing Shi Prologue:

I will take the documents back with me and try to contact one my contact to figure out what it has on it.

Michael Santo,Lorenzo, Cappelli, Katriana and Sergei Volkov, and Gunther Thesing::

Michael Santos a playful character that stand about 5'11 but claims 6ft short curly black hair and 5'oclock shadow brewing from a long restless night. Linky Character who appears to have never done a pushup in his life, you'd kinda wonder how he'd ever get the girls with his Frame until you hear him sing Nice Venetian melody as expected from the BEST Gondola Driver that has navigated the Canal. Not one to cause intimidation upon inspection quite the opposite.

Michael stands in the middle of the crowd unnerved

"WAIT WHAT!!! Michael Shrieks No blood in his body, No Markings to give any clues and you" Pointing to Sergei "you are as calm and collected as can be... What in the name of all that is Good is going on here" Michael looks at Katriana "Stop Hiding back there you know whats going on too. The other day on the Gondola you Two didn't even flinch when the body was struck from the water... whats going on who did this ....." Michael works him self into a Frantic Stupor and falls back as the weight of his legs give way... Michael thinks to himself.oO(I need another drink)

Michael Santo, Lorenzo Cappelli, Katriana and Sergei Volkov, and Gunther Thesing:
Sergei steps forward, instantly enraged.

"Don't you EVER speak to my sister like that!"

Sergei settles down a bit

"I am sure you will most likely not believe me, but try to suspend disbelief for a minute. The reason that Hans is dead is because he was fed on and killed by a.........vampire!"

Shadow's Status

Lorenzo Cappelli, Vykos Twins, Gunther Thesing, and Michael Santo:
Dr. Arrigino laughs, "That is preposterous! This foreigner has brought his fantasies of the east with him."
Lorenzo Cappelli make an Intelligence + Occult roll difficulty of 8.

5th Generation Cappadocian | Bloodpool: 37/40 | Willpower: 7/8

Lorenzo Cappelli, Volkov Twins, Gunther Thesing, and Michael Santo:
Intelligence + Occult (Diff 8):6d10 ⇒ (3, 4, 7, 2, 9, 6) = 31
Shadow's Status

Lorenzo Cappelli ONLY:
One of the ways to slay a Vampire is by driving a shaft of wood made of crataegus (hawthorn or thornapple) through the heart of the creature as well as through its legs. For some reason this tidbt of information is the first thing that comes to mind when Sergei says Vampire...

Shadow's Status

Xing Shi Prologue:
So you are going back to your hideout to wait for your contact?

Max Blood Pool/Current = 20/10

Xing Shi Prologue:

I have 3 contacts. Do I not know where any of them live in the city? I would prefer to go to a different one than the one that got me on this little goose chase.

Shadow's Status

Michele Querini Prologue:
After nearly an hour of screams and sharp maneuvers by the ship the Captain returns. "Job well done. I will have to ask for hazard pay from Sadir no? This was supposed to be an easy pick up in the dark not a daring escape by the light of day. Ah well we are away and they will not catch us now. You may sit back and relax for a few days my friend. Soon you will need to no doubt have to do your part in this charade". The Captain settles into his hammock and closes his eyes for sleep despite the fact that it cannot be later than the middle of the morning. Anything you want to do?

5th Generation Setite| Bloodpool 40/34|

Storyteller Shadow:
I will clear my throat a bit "I agree, hazard pay for the both of us. Captain, when will someone tell me where we are going and exactly what part in this I play?"

Michael, Lorenzo, gunther, volkovs:

Michael takes a moment to absorb the news that he just heard
"Hahaha!!!! Michael laughs hysterically "Vile beast of the night did this...the demons of myth and legends. " Michael stands up " I guess that solves that mystery what do you say good doctor does that theory seem sound?" Michael looks towards the doc hoping for something more scientific

Shadow's Status

Michele Querini Prologue:
The Captain looks over at you, "Senor Querini, until you introduced yourself I did not know who you were. I was told to pick a Venetian man at the outskirts of Venice on this day and bring you to a point in the Sea. After that I know nothing. The rest of what you must do only Sadir knows".
He closes his eyes again and his hammock sways with the Sea.

5th Generation Setite| Bloodpool 40/34|

Storyteller Shadow:
I best get comfortable then." I will do my best to get comfortable and have another drink.

5th Generation Cappadocian | Bloodpool: 37/40 | Willpower: 7/8

Lorenzo Cappelli, Volkov Twins, Gunther Thesing, and Michael Santo:
A grim look crosses the face of Lorenzo as he finally begins to understand what is going on around him. "As fanciful as it sounds, based on other things I have seen recently, the theory sounds as plausible as anything else."
Shadow's Status

Lorenzo Cappelli, Volkov Twins, Michael Santo, and Gunther Thesing:
"Dr. do not feed into this man's delusions! While I agree the case is strange I do not think that ghosts and goblins should be blamed for deaths in these modern time. Such accusations can start terrible repercussions. Do we want people burned at the stake as Vampires? Perhaps you do not remember but I was your age when the Inquisition was active in this city fifteen years ago. Several dozen innocent people were accused of withcraft and had their property taken from them or their lives. The Vatican recalled all these Inquisition priests when it was discovered that the accusations were nothing more than naked power grabs. I do not wish to see a repeat of those dark times".

Lorenzo Cappelli, Volkov Twins, Michael Santo, and Gunther Thesing:

Sergei laughs sarcastically
"Doctor, you do not burn a vampire at the stake. Although it is effective, chances are it will never get to that. Vampires are ruthless creatures that have many advantages and a lot less weaknesses. Our biggest advantage is the daylight."

Storyteller Shadow:
Sergei is a little suspicious of this Dr. Arrigino fellow. Can he do a Perception + Awareness to see if hes more than human?

Shadow's Status

Sergei Volkov only:
Go ahead, difficulty of 5.

Lorenzo Cappelli, Volkov Twins, Michael Santo, and Gunther Thesing:

:
Having remained silent for the majority of this conversation, Gunther finally expresses his opinion on the matter.

"Bah! All this talk of vampires as if they exist. Do you take us for fools?! Complete and utter nonsense is what this is. Vampires? Really?!

Gunther scoffs and shakes his head.

"Stories told to children to make them behave and go to bed at night. I would sooner believe that there is a twisted psychopath on the loose than believe a vampire did this."

Storyteller Shadow:
4d10 ⇒ (8, 2, 1, 6) = 17

Michael+Lorenzo+Gunther+Volkovs:

Michael Composes him self somewhat
"Mr. Cappelli you stated that you have seen other things that have proven this theory to be true what events have taken place that would give weight to such tales." Michael Folds his arms and listens "I shall entertain the thought of the Denizen of the dark and if they do exist how do we go about keeping safe?" Michael looks at Sergei "you seem to have delt with this before and you are still in one piece what do you say we do about this unfortunate turn of events Garlic and Stakes No?!?"

Lorenzo Cappelli, Volkov Twins, Michael Santo, and Gunther Thesing:

:

Becoming quickly agitated, Gunther adds:

"You're not seriously entertaining this idea, are you?! This is not the work of some creature of the night. It is either a plague or disease of some kind, a deviant psycho walking the streets, or the work of God almighty Himself. How can you all give credence to any of this ridiculous dribble?"

Gunther begins to slowly pace back and forth, trying to come up with other feasible possibilities.
Max Blood Pool/Current = 20/10

Xing Shi Prologue:

Xing Shi will continue to look around the house for a bit longer to see if she can find something else that might be of import like pictures that were drawn of him or family to determine who he knows. After a while she will leave with the paper and possibly something else and head down to the market.

Do I have money or am I dirt poor?

She will try to find someplace with writing on it and attempt to appear to be trying to read it waiting for someone to try to assist her as she appears to be struggling. I will throw out a few curse words in Japanese to try to draw attention to myself as it's foreign language here.

Lorenzo Cappelli, Volkov Twins, Michael Santo, and Gunther Thesing:

Katriana peeks out from behind Sergei
"How did the deviant psycho drain him of blood? Where are the wounds? Yes we have had experience with this before. Now we are here, and we will try to find those creatures responsible for this and our paren........."
Katriana trails off, obviously about to say her parents.

5th Generation Cappadocian | Bloodpool: 37/40 | Willpower: 7/8

Lorenzo Cappelli, Volkov Twins, Michael Santo, and Gunther Thesing:
"You ask me to reveal what else I have seen? So be it. A few nights ago, I was called to see to a wounded man. The man begged me to take him to some individual known as 'Prince Narses', but his wounds were too great to reveal much more before his death, granted that part is not particularly out of the ordinary, but what happened next is. Upon death, the man's body turned completely to dust."

Thinking a bit more about the old wive's tales he had heard as a boy about vampires, he continues. "I have heard it said that one of the ways to slay a vampire is by driving a shaft of wood made of crataegus, say hawthorn or thornapple, through the heart of the creature as well as through its legs. It appeared that dying man was interested in the contents of a crate that contained a number of religious items and a great number of these stakes."

Lorenzo Cappelli, Volkov Twins, Michael Santo, and Gunther Thesing:

Sergei perks up

"Do you have those stakes? Prince, eh? I wonder if they have some sort of hierarchy, or something. That was definitely a vampire. I am curious why you were called to check on a vampire though. Perhaps the person that summoned you knows more."

Shadow's Status

Vlokov Twins ONLY:
Just so you are aware, the term "Prince" means nothing to you. You know that the Vampires have some kind of hiererchy but the extent of it is unknown, those brazen enough have claimed that they rule humanity but perhaps that was said just to dishearten you. Dr. Arrigino seems to be more human than you or your sister.

Shadow's Status

Xing Shi Prologue:
Let me give some more thought to your Allies, I did not realize you had that trait. I may give you an Ally here in Venice.

Shadow's Status

Lorenzo Cappelli, Michael Santo, Gunther Thesing, Volkov Twins:
[b] "Listen to yourselves talk. Everything has a rational explanation, perhaps this man simply combusted through excessive friction and heat. I have read a case similar to the one where you described so perhaps the fact that it happned again is confirmation of what I have seen. How can something dead still be alive? There is no such thing in the world ever documented that I have read. Please Dr. Cappelli you must see that this man and his sister are mad".

Max Blood Pool/Current = 20/10

Xing Shi Prologue:

Ok, yeah I took a lot of allies/contacts since i'm a stranger in a strange land!

5th Generation Cappadocian | Bloodpool: 37/40 | Willpower: 7/8

Lorenzo Cappelli, Michael Santo, Gunther Thesing, Volkov Twins:
In response to Sergei's question about the stakes, Lorenzo says, "No, I do not have the stakes, but I do know where they are...or at least were."

"Dr. Arrigino, while normally I would whole-heartedly agree with you about everything having a rational explantion, I have yet to find one in this case. Cases of spontaneous combustion, produce a significant amount of heat typically will leave larger parts of a body behind. There was no heat present, no body parts left behind. He simply turned to dust in my hands."
Shadow's Status

Lorenzo Cappelli, Michael Santo, Gunther Thesing, Volkov Twins:
"Let us suppose for a minute that the man was a Vampire, what were the nature of these wounds that led to his death before he "turned into dust?
Beyond that, let's assume that Hans was killed by a Vampire, why are there no bite wounds?"

storyteller shadow:
Do we know about the wound licking?

5th Generation Cappadocian | Bloodpool: 37/40 | Willpower: 7/8

Lorenzo Cappelli, Michael Santo, Gunther Thesing, Volkov Twins:
"Massive head trauma. As to the lack of bite marks on Hans, I do not know, but regardless, there still need to be some explanation of how the body was exsanguinated."
Shadow's Status

Volkov Twins:
Perhaps, make an Intelligence + Occult roll Difficulty of 8, 3 successes on the roll indicates that you have heard of it, less than 3 you have not.

Volkov Twins:
5d10 ⇒ (9, 8, 8, 7, 3) = 35

Volkov Twins, Lorenzo Cappelli, Michael Santo, Gunther Thesing:
"My good Doctor, the lack of bite marks is due to the vampire licking the victims wounds after they have fed. It preserves their anonymity."

Sergei turns to Lorenzo

"Where are these stakes? Can you give us a location, or show my friend Francois here? Also, who summoned you to care for this vampire?"

As Sergei continues to get worked up over this situation, Katriana seems to be growing more and more upset.
Shadow's Status

Volkov Twins:
Now you look crazy Francois did not come with you....

Volkov Twins, Lorenzo Cappelli, Michael Santo, Gunther Thesing:
"Sorry I forgot that Vampire saliva has incredible healing powers and who is Francois?"

5th Generation Cappadocian | Bloodpool: 37/40 | Willpower: 7/8

Lorenzo Cappelli, Michael Santo, Gunther Thesing, Volkov Twins:
"I could show you the location, if I knew more about you. Summoned might be a bit strong of a word, more like begged for me to come see to the soon to be pile of dust. As for who it was, he was a warehouse night watchman."

Volkov Twins, Lorenzo Cappelli, Michael Santo, Gunther Thesing:
"Well you clearly know nothing about vampires, so please don't patronize me. Francois is one of my retainers HERE in the city."

He turns away from Doctor Arrigino and towards Lorenzo.

"That is fine sir, we can sit down to dinner tonight and I can tell you everything that we know. I welcome you all to join us."

Shadow's Status

Volkov Twins, Lorenzo Cappelli, Michael Santo, Gunther Thesing:
"I think this meeting is over. I will continue to research the real cause of death for this young man. The rest of you may do what you wish. I would advise you to seek the aid of the authorities if you believe foul play is afoot. Stalking imaginary creatures in the night will get you and other people seriously hurt or even killed Sergei. I hope you consider your choices carefully while here in our fair city".

Michael Gunther Lorenzo Volkov:

Michael speaks to the Twins
So let me get this stright are you in search of these Vampires or are they simply following you guys around. It seems that you didnt know they were here but as soon as you show up there are exploding bodies and people dumped in canals.
Michael still trembling of the news he just heard. trying his best to hide the fear. "I would like to be a witness to the content of the crate and the stakes and only then will i believe the merit of these Tales.
Michel thinks to himself .oO(I have some time to kill why not see where this leads)
"I came here for answers to a killing and tales of demons is what i get in return. No form of science can produce a rational answers so before I can give Hans sister the news of her brothers death I would like to know more to this."Michael looks towards Sergei looks like this is your show.

Volkov Twins, Lorenzo Cappelli, Michael Santo, Gunther Thesing:
"We can go there right now if that is ok with Signore Cappelli."

Volkov Twins, Lorenzo Cappelli, Michael Santo, Gunther Thesing:
Katriana is cowering in the corner now.
"Sergei, I cannot keep doing this. I just want to go away from all of it! How many decades will this take?"
She begins to weep into her hands

Michael Lorenze Gunther Volkov:

Michael looks Shocked
Decades... How long have you been dealing with this ?!?... How old are you?!?

Michael tries to sooth Katriana
Sorry my dear there is no need to cry... surely we men here of brillant minds can come to a common accord to settles these matters.

Michael spews words of confort towards katriana...
if only he believed in his words.

Volkov Twins, Lorenzo Cappelli, Michael Santo, Gunther Thesing:

:

"All right, I for one do not put my faith in such nonsense. I cannot believe I am even still here... but I do not want to see nor here about any more people being found dead under mysterious circumstances. If you want me to come along, that is all well and good. I will aid you all in any way that I can."

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