Here's how its gonna work: I want feedback on the game as a whole, your part of the game, the other players in a positive, constructive manner and myself as an ST in a likewise fashion.
Game As A Whole:
I'm enjoying my part so far. I have been deliberately avoiding reading anything anyone else has posted so I'm surprised, but as for what's happened it's interesting enough and I'm certainly eager to see what will be in the future, and I'm anticipating meeting the other player characters.
So far the best selling point of the game is that the NPCs are appealing.
My Part In The Game:
I feel I have a great deel of leeway with my character which I like and so far have had no complaints. It seems like you understad what I was going for with the character and have not been a Nazi about certain things, such as the IDs. I'm getting to play the character like I had envisioned and I apreciate that fact. The only thing I ahve realized si that I need some more skills to truly take advantage of my character's paranoid aspects, as I'm sure he's completely paranoid off the wall about the diea of super computers listening in on his phone conversations, for example.
The Other Players:
Like I said, for my own future entertainment I've avoided looking at what the others are posting so I can really get into it when I meet them. But from what little I've read it seems like things can go very wild very easily, that there's a great deal of danger involved, and that everyone is taking their character very seriously.
Story Teller:
So far so good. I like the fact you play the NPCs well which I think is the most important thing, and you seem to ahve a flare for the dramatic. Plus you have done a few creative things. Honestly though it's a little early to say. I was reserving judgment until I see how you bring all the character's together and reveal the beginning of the plot.
Alrighty, we're almost to the point of taking that brief break I mentioned before. I have read all you comments, and I appreciate the kind words, and I will post my feedback for you all once we get to that break. At that point, I hope to get some good discussion going either on this thread or a new one as I have some critiques that we can talk about as well as some suggestions.
That all being said, I have been re-reading my copy of Children of the Night, which details a great deal of the various famous/infamous/powerful vampires around and I'm looking for ones who I can tie to each PC. So far, I have a few ideas, which I will run by each of you privately via email and then we can figure out what to do from there.
ok, what is everybody's timezones, and active times online??
I am Eastern Standard Time, so for me, it's 10:14pm, Tuesday April 19th.
my online times are 10am-1am+ Mon-Fri. On the weekends, including Friday, that 1am could be as late as 3 or 4am. However, I am usually not awake until 1pm on Sat/Sun, sometimes later.
If i have no need for my rulebooks, I can post via my cell phone while at work. If however, I must use them, I usually get home around 6:30pm-ish.
It's 9:59 pm as I post this. I'm on Arizona time which has no daylight savings, and I can never remember what time of the year I'm on pacific or mountain time but it's one or the other.
I can post just about any time normally. The only days that are "bad," if they are, are about 3 saturdays a month and 2 or 3 firdays a month, alternating.
So now that we've gotten to a good stopping point, we're going to deal with some OOC stuff:
1) XP-first, I believe I forgot to award Edgar's Prelude XP, which was 3.
Beschi, I'm giving you 5 more for the wonderful interactions with Aisling and Moridin. Well played!!
Edgar, you're getting 4, you role-played the madness well, but you almost died there with Moridin. Ease up just a tad, ok?
Thackery, for the awesome attention to detail and playing the paranoia to the extreme, you get 6.
Yes, I know, differing values. I hope you guys don't mind.
2) What are thoughts over all on the game? you all provided some feedback before, but since some significant things have happened since then, I'd like more.
3) my comments:
Beschi, your doing an awesome job of playing up feeling overlooked with regards to the NY Chantry. Try not to be so bitter and business-like though. After all "you'll get more with honey than vinegar". Top notch stuff all around. It's nice having somebody in my game that's as seemingly well versed as you are in the rules and lore. Which isn't a slight against our two other players as it's a bit of a problem with the people I played with IRL, lol.
Edgar-You did a great job with the madness, but I think we may need to re-work your Derangement. I think it makes more sense to suffer from an extreme case of Co-Dependence, than what, i believe Megalomania? We can keep his false sense of upholding the traditions via Princely edict, but I think the Co-Dependence fits perfectly.
Thackery- The paranoia is awesome, and intense, but I think you might need to tone it down a bit, or it might get in the way of playing well with the others. I am sorry I had to pretty much force you to go along, but I wasn't going to have you blow yourself up, and since that was kinda unexpected, I had to roll with it as best I could.
ALL-If I have said something or somebody causes a certain reaction or feeling, please, please, please roleplay that. Just because your undead, doesn't mean you've lost your feelings, and fear, lust, etc can still affect you.
That's all for now. AWESOME GAME SO FAR, YOU GUYS ROCK!!
Everything's good so far. I'm finding it interesting.
The people I've been dealing with certainly have personality. I think my character certainly now has his own defined future goals beyond the main plot, which is always good.
I have purchased "Occult" as a new ability.
I have increased "Security" to 3.
And I have increased "Computers" to 2.
That should be 9 experience, which is what I had.
Let me know if you approve, or more importantly disaprove.
All good Thack. Glad your ejoying yourself
Differing XP is ok with me, when I used to play that was how the ST did it.
I ST'd for a long time and have been playing since the game came out (just about) so I have a pretty expanded knowledge base of the rules and the lore. I try to make sure I keep in character knowledge limited though.
Beschi - Yeah he is feeling slighted but like a bitter old man can be he will NOT play nice with a young upstart. In fact he was going to plant the seed of doubt about Sturbridge in Moridin's mind but based on what Moridin said he figured better to prove it first. He is looking at this as an opportunity to get somewhere but I think I may have to play up his Ennui flaw if it is not resolved quickly. He truly is world weary. I am also looking forward of adding the angle of his religious background to the mix.
Edgar – I thought the interaction with the Prince was great, did not expect it at all.
Thackery – The attempt to head out of the country was hilarious, over the top paranoid.
I think both players are playing Malkavians really well (sometimes players do a poor job with Malkavians).
The Game – I like the concept for the plot, I am looking forward to seeing where we go from here. The NPC’s are well played, I like having a mix of book and non book NPC’s. I like the idea of tying some of the book NPC’s to our characters so that should be interesting as well. I am really enjoying playing again!
XP Expenditures – I have 8 XP, I am going to buy the Second dot of Elemental Mastery and the second dot of Neptune’s Might.
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Edgar has been practicing with his cane and possibly his hotdog in the street going back to his old military training and refreshing what he knows or does not know....as the case may be
I spent my points and upgraded Edgar.......
2 points to raise melee to 2
4 points to raise firearms to 3
1 point left over for later!
My guess is without this mission neither Edgar nor Thackery would have gotten out much!
SO far so good!
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I found master CGP Rp with the prince very convincing, he is an academic thinking he is overlooked for an obvious tenure post he absolutely believes should be his!
Really brought the character into the present for me, since the past is so well detailed, it is great to see that carry forward.
I found Thakery to be a malkavian of a different color much like the famed horse in the wizard of oz.....
I am hoping to get some ammunition for my old service revolver!
I would almost feel sorry for Edgar if he were ever given the misssion to find and bring back one Thakery. The mission at hand sounds much more promising!
I look forward to the characters getting a chance to meet...
Master CGP will obviously enjoy his road trip!
Edgar has been practicing with his cane and possibly his hotdog in the street going back to his old military training and refreshing what he knows or does not know....as the case may be
I spent my points and upgraded Edgar.......
2 points to raise melee to 2
4 points to raise firearms to 31 point left over for later!
My guess is without this mission neither Edgar nor Thackery would have gotten out much!
SO far so good!
So what do you think about your Malk Derangement being extreme Co-Dependence?? I want your input as I will not force something like this on you(unlike the Darkness one, which I forgot to inform you about)
If your cool with it, the CD will become your incurable Derangement, while the other two will just be normal ones....yea normal of course lol.
I will try to get a post up that brings you all together n moves the plot forward, but my younger bro is home from college for Easter n I'm tryin to chill wth him n some girlies lol. So it might not be till Monday night, after work, but we'll see.
Also I may be getting some special guest stars, including my bro, and perhaps another player or two...
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I think the Co-dependence fits...
...one of the main reasons the encounter with the prince went the way it did was the "voice of reason" was excluded from the whole thing...
In a very real way Edgar is impotent against his madness w/o Lenore...
Which of course validates the fears that went into her becoming as well......
FYI, since I have access to them, I will allow powers, Merits & Flaws(which if a good reason In Game is created, can be picked up after character creation), etc from the Dark Ages books, either the older ones or the Revised.
Also, just to make sure it's known, Combination Disciplines are allowed as well. Those things are just cool!!
Finally, I hope to have the next IG post up tonight, but i'm also going to be helping my younger bro remake his character tonight as well.
I have so many goodies I probably won;t get to the Combination Disciplines for awhile. Good to know they are options cause they are pretty cool.
Does it matter which path is my primary path? I am not sure if I want it to be Path of Blood or Movement of the Mind. I know that my other power increases are limited by my primary path though so I have to make a decision at some point soon.
I will probably pursue Weather Control next so I can make it pour and then use the second dot of Neptune's Might to greater advantage.
No, as long as you chose a primary path, it doesn't matter which one you pick.
My younger brother will probably be joining as a sort of long-term guest player. He wasn't able to finish his character this weekend, but chances are that a point where he can show up won't be until he comes back for a month mid-May.
I am going to spend 4 of the 6 XP on the second level of Weather Control.
Idea is to summon rain in the evening so that later in the night I will have water available to use Naptune's Might....
Did you have left over XP from before? cuz to raise WC to 2 would cost 5 XP, no?
It is 4 XP. I only had 1 dot in WC and it is a Path so the XP cost is 4x current rating.
I am still debating between Path of Blood od MOvement of the Mind for My primary path. I am thinking Movement of the Mind as it is more suited to Beschi's personality I think.
I have 2 XP left. I will probably save up for the 3rd dot of either WC or Neptune's Might next.
___________________________Question Monkeygod, do you want us to go back tonight in game to see Moridin? Beschi is still leery of him despite what Grandfather says.
No, your spending this night and the coming day at the reservation, as you asked. After that it would probably be a good idea to head back, but you can decide that once you speak to your sire.
Either or is totally fine, and both sound interesting. Just let me know which one you pick, and I'll help you fine tune him
He is ready. Background and stats are in his profile. Let me know if he is ok MonkeyGod.
Now we have 4 characters! I think we can start the next chapter, I am psyched :-)
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MG
I wondered if I could use this discipline in your game
Kai
1 • INNER FOCUS
Honor is foremost in the Bushi's mind and soul. It is this idea of honor, this overwhelming drive to perform their duty, that allows this power to work. Instead of using Willpower points to resist the urge to frenzy, a Bushi may spend two blood points and regain an inner calm for the scene. In order for this to work, the situation in which the Bushi will frenzy must be one that would either endanger a tast given by the Bushi's master or a situation which would cause the character to loose honor if she frenzied. This is just one of the powerful mystical abilities of the Bushi which may seem like a Thaumaturgy path, but in fact is the essence of the spirit.
System:
Two Blood Points.
2 • FOCUSED STRIKE
Those who are well-practiced in the martial arts are known to be able to break wood and brick with their hands feet and heads. the Focused Strike is an extension of that ability. By expending blood points, the character can focus her inner power into a massive strike which, instead of wood and brick, can break through walls of stone or iron and destroy the most powerful of enemies. With this power, a bushi may send an enemy flying with the lightest of blows. ( It is rumored that a higher level of Kai allows the Vampire to focus such power through objects, such as swords or bullets. )
System:
The amount of damage done by a blow is increased by two per blood point expended ( to a maximum of ten dice ). The inner force of a person, whether living or undead, has mystical properties and thus any damage caused by this attack will count as aggravated.
3 • HONORABLE ELIXIR
the Bushi may turn her blood into a spiritual substance that will cause others who drink it to walk the path of honor. Anyone, either mortal or vampire ( even those of a higher generation than the blood donor ) who drinks the blood must treat the Bushi honorably, as if he were a Bushi as well. he will suffer any Willpower loss or derangement that normally comes with breaking one's vow. this effect only lasts for one scene, unless the Honorable Elixir has been drunk on three different occasions, in which case a Blood Bond develops and the honor effect becomes permanent.
THE Bushi often use this during business negotiations, even on mortals ignorant of their vampiric nature. It is not hard convincing businessmen to honor the Bushi's "simple Japanese custom from samurai times", in this case, the sharring of a drop of blood ( or a drop concealed in a cup of saki ). This ensures that the Bushi are never cheated in business dealings, or if they are, the cheater suffers for their dishonor. System:
A Willpower point must be spent to energize the blood. Only those drinking the blood will be effected.
4 • SHEILD FROM FIRE
Fire is the ally of the sun and thus the enemy of the children of Susanoo. Once the vampire masters the ability to focus her inner force, she is then taught to use this ability as a shield against attacks. By expending Blood Points, the character can create and red aura around herself which will ward off powers of the flame.
System:
For every Blood Point expended, one turn of invulnerability, from fire is gained.
As the path fits the character very well!
Will check them over tomorrow, where is Kai from?? Did u make it up yourself??
Dennis, you have an email.
I believe Rodrigo is ready to go!
Sorry guys!! this week has been insane for me, especially wed on. Also, my RL friend Max is mostly likely going to be statting up a character for this game, so that'll help too.
I plan to check over Chang tonight or morrow.
No idea how I missed your question dennis, rly sorry.
Life's been busy, bunch of other games goin on includin try to make sure one doesn't die.
Here's what we're gonna do: for right now, let's move on with just El Cid. Not sure if we need Chang, but keep him in reserve just in case.
I'll go to IG thread now and see about a new post. Sorry again!