Vampire the Masquerade (Inactive)

Game Master DireMerc

Arriving late to the meeting, Alexander stands near the entrance, taking in the ensuing scene between Modius and the rabid dog known as Juggler.

Observing the fiasco the evening is turning into, Vinccenso nods in agreement at Rick's words.
While Thom's words elicit a rueful chuckle, Vince still shakes his head before sighing & stepping out onto the floor.

"If I may present a third option as, to be painfully blunt, neither of you have the means to 'declare Lextalionis'." He opines, glowering mildly back & forth at the principles. "I have resided within this city for the better part of the last Century & I have witnessed the two of you do little save bicker, back-bite & bull-s~&&...
The consequences of which we see about us every night & to be excruciatingly honest I am sick unto torpor of it!" His, so-far, mild demeanor seems to almost vibrate with the intensity of his manifest displeasure.
Turning to Modius as he continues, "You claim the 'right' of Praxis, yet you do little save mutter to yourself within your haven as nightly this," pointing to Juggler, "self-proclaimed, Anarch, holds his own 'court' within this city's only Elysium, which your own actions have allowed to decay & molder to little more than another rubbish heap among many in this desecrated graveyard."
Before Juggler has the chance to latch onto his words, Vinccenso rounds on him, a pink froth of spittle forming about his lips from the speed of his words. "You! You mayn't in one breath decry the cultural institution which allows the Eldest within the city the right of Destruction while in the next you seek to call for it yourself! If you have the personal power to slay Modius, do it. If not, shut up & do something, anything, useful!"
"I may be little more than a scavenger, picking at the rotting flesh of this city, but at least I am honest about it, if only to myself."
Yep, I'm gonna die tonight.

Alexander raises an eyebrow, hearing the outburst from the neonate toward the already near-frenzy anarch. Well this could prove to be interesting...

Stands up slowly It seems to me that if us Vampires are to survive this here. gestures to Mordus and Juggler will not help. There is a hunter here in Gary and you want to try and do his job for him!

Yep, I'm gonna die tonight.

Ahh, but it will be... glorious!

Slow clapping can be heard from the back as Orphan walks towards the mess, little noticed till now though he has been watching the whole outburst.

"Bravo, Bravo. Such a beautiful show. This must be why I am here. The Sabbat close their grip on this and every other city in the area while the Anarch and the Camarilla would rather fight each other with their last dieing drop than work together to face the coming of the dawn. Ahh what a wonderful dance we lead."

Orphan begins to move and spin so slightly with every step, a turn here, a dip there, his movements all in jerking rhythm with his ever quickening claps clap.......clap....clap...clap.

"You who are here, yes all of you. Come dance their dance, you all have your parts to play. Do you slay the Anarch at the call of your Prince, the Camarillan on the word of your Baron, both at the call of your Archbishop? What do you do I wonder, You who are beyond death and life. What does one do with an infinite amount of time but squabble and bicker and break oneself against another, this is our way because we let it be our way."

Orphan wends his way to the front, his clapping now at a merry pace. Coming to a rest before Vinccenso.

"Now that I have your attention, we have a problem here my friends. Your city is dieing. Instead of strengthening the herd so we can feed and find entertaining unlives we seem to perpetuate the long standing stupidity that has plagued us since Carthage fell and Rome was crushed. You want to survive and enjoy your death? Then you have to work together."

Orphan points an accusatory finger at the prince and the anarch in turn before moving it to point at the rest of the gathered dead.

"I am crazy, that is what you all think right. A Malkavian sees though. I and my brethren see all that is and was and will be. Listen to the prophet as he speaks his words, for to deny him his moment is to turn your back to the sun and wait for its rays to bring your final death. You will all be tested in the night, and you will all fail if you do not band together as one. Not as Anarch. Not as Camarilla. Not as Independent. No, as Vampire. As the blood of Cain, the blood that binds all. Now get your acts together children and clean up your rooms, because this city is a mess and you are the only ones who can fix it"

With that the boy sits down on the floor, somehow having come to rest in the exact center of the meeting. In a quiet voice that can be heard by all. "I have done as you asked mother, though I know not if they will understand. Forgive them, for they know not what is to come. The hell that will be." And with that the child slumps over to the floor.

Modius just seems stunned that his command was ignored and at the insults and Juggler finally gives in to the beast and roars and leaps up to attack Vinccen punching him as hard as he can.

dex+brawl for attack: 8d10 ⇒ (3, 9, 10, 8, 3, 7, 10, 6) = 56 Six success

5 str+ 5 extra success for damage: 10d10 ⇒ (10, 3, 10, 6, 3, 1, 4, 2, 7, 5) = 51 3 success

So 3 bashing damage.

Seeing this Maria starts laughing and Modius uses Obfuscate to disappear.

shakes his head

"S~@$...", Ben curses, before (perhaps foolishly) attempting to restrain the frenzied Juggler.

Spending a blood point to raise my strength to four, before attempting to hold him.

Dex 4 + Brawl 3: 7d10 ⇒ (4, 5, 2, 9, 3, 9, 10) = 42 = 3 successes

Strength 4 + Brawl 3: 7d10 ⇒ (9, 2, 2, 10, 6, 8, 2) = 39 = 4 successes

"Maybe make your dramatic exit now Vince...!", he growls.

What th- Oof!
Distracted by the Vampiric child before him, Vinccenso is blindsided by Juggler's assault.
Stamina for Soak: 2d10 ⇒ (8, 3) = 11, one success so only two get through, converted to one since it's bashing & he is a Vampire.
Spinning about, Vinccenso fixes his glare once more upon Juggler. "Listen!" He barks as his eyes seem to gleam with intent.
Spending one Blood to heal the damage & 2 to increase Vinccenso's Stamina to four for the scene.
Manipulation/Intimidation for Dominate (Command): 2d10 ⇒ (3, 2) = 5, spending a Willpower for an auto success, which is likely to be the only success unless Juggler is really low on Willpower right now.
On the bright side, if Vinccenso survives, his Harmless Merit should remain intact...

"A fight, now this is a party!"

Rick moves over to the struggle with the Juggler, drawing his knife and stabbing at juggler.
melee + dex: 6d10 ⇒ (10, 10, 6, 2, 3, 2) = 33 oooh two 10s nice
lethal damage: 4d10 ⇒ (1, 10, 4, 5) = 20 (+2 successes, 3 total)

"Maybe if he springs a leak, he'll lose some of that piss 'n' vinegar!"

Not good.... Thom draws his gun, releasing the safety.

What dice to take the shot? Page 258 confuses me. They say reduce the dice pool (as w/multiple actions, p248), but then say roll Dex + Firearms, diff 4 (full dice pool).

You roll dex + firearms for a gun attack

Thom fires once.

Draw Weapon, Dex + Firearms, diff 4: 4d10 + 3d10 ⇒ (5, 9, 10, 9) + (6, 5, 10) = 54

Shoot, Dex + Firearms, behind 2d, held 2d, head shot +2 diff, diff 8: 4d10 + 3d10 + 2d10 + 2d10 ⇒ (10, 5, 2, 8) + (3, 3, 3) + (7, 5) + (10, 7) = 63

Damage, glock 4d, 2 extra 2d, aggravated: 4d10 + 2d10 ⇒ (6, 2, 1, 2) + (2, 5) = 18

I didn't have time to check everything last time I was on cause I was working now I'm checking everything. So Rick pretty sure you did that wrong. I'm pretty sure your suppose to roll an extra dice for each success beyond one. (at least that's what I was doing) so you got 2 success damage for a knife is str+1 so 4? +1 for 1 additional success you needed to roll 5 dice for damage and the damage would be the number of success on those rolls + nothing. Correct me if I'm wrong. Now I think Thom did everything right but ends up dealing no damage.

Juggler will spend a point of blood to use celerity and to trow off Ben.
throw of Ben: 9d10 ⇒ (7, 7, 3, 3, 10, 4, 1, 10, 1) = 46 2 success.

Vincce: You cannot dominate Juggler because he is a higher generation.

Maintain hold (Str 4 + Brawl 3): 7d10 ⇒ (4, 1, 10, 4, 10, 8, 3) = 40 = 2 successes

Think Thom did 1 aggravated, firearm to head. He can try to soak with Fortitude.

I have Strength 4, +1 for knife, +1 auto success for Potence

I thought i rolled 4 dice and added the 1 doe it being a knife and the 1 for Potence

If my 3 successes at attack garner me 3 more rolls for damage, here they are (on top of 3 damage successes earlier?)

3d10 ⇒ (3, 4, 3) = 10

I am new to this game as well, so any help from experienced players would be helpful. i was unaware of extra damage dice for successes on attack, although that makes sense to a certain extent.

Thom: I see one success that is then negated by a 1 for damage.
Rick: I didn't take that extra 1 for the knife into account however potence adds an extra dice not an auto success. You can however spend 1 point of blood for each dot of potence you have for 1 auto success each. Also it's an additional dice for each success beyond one. So with that taken into account it would be Damage = roll 7 dice (4 str +2 for additional success on attack and +1 for potence) and add 1 to the number of success for knife

Thom: I see one success that is then negated by a 1 for damage.

Rick: I didn't take that extra 1 for the knife into account however potence adds an extra dice not an auto success. You can however spend 1 point of blood for each dot of potence you have for 1 auto success each. Also it's an additional dice for each success beyond one. So with that taken into account it would be Damage = roll 7 dice (4 str +2 for additional success on attack and +1 for potence) and add 1 to the number of success for knife

1's don't subtract from successes when dealing dmg.

I also thought the +1 on damage was an extra die, not an auto-success? But I could be wrong.

No actually Ben your right it's an extra die not an auto-success. So for damage you would roll 8d10's Rick. Also thanks for the clarification browman didn't know that.

Juggler soak, he negates the damage.

soak: 3d10 ⇒ (7, 2, 5) = 14

So Thom now knows he's got the Fortitude discipline, as firearms to head is aggravated damage only soaked by Fortitide.

Juggler is 700 years old and has a reputation as being a strong fighter. I was surprised he only 3 dots in fortitude instead of 5. Anyway back to the fight at hand I'd like to know what Alex, Laurence and orphan are doing then I'll go back to juggler.

So Juggler is lower than eight generation?

If I remember correctly no. He is 8th and modius is 7th.

Orphan peeks out one eye to see if anyone is watching him then stands up and fades from view.

5d10 ⇒ (2, 6, 6, 9, 6) = 29 Dang it, if only you all had average will power.

Lets try and leave this ooc stuff in the ooc discussion area. I know I'm the one that was doing it too but it's starting to spam the gameplay area too much.

damage dice as asked: 8d10 ⇒ (9, 5, 1, 8, 1, 4, 10, 4) = 42

Ok so juggler will try once again to break free.

break free: 9d10 ⇒ (7, 1, 6, 10, 10, 1, 6, 9, 8) = 58 5 success.

You can all post again.

Ben struggles to maintain the hold.
Str 4 + Brawl 3: 7d10 ⇒ (9, 9, 8, 8, 4, 3, 6) = 47 = 5 successes, assuming difficulty 6.

"JESUS. Stop shooting and stabbing him, he's not gonna calm the f@!! down until you do!"

On the one hand...
On the other, I've known people his age who really would do this very thing...

'Vince', previously attempting to compel a sense of calm within Juggler, glares sharply at Ben. "Take not the Lord's name in vain!" He bellows, pointing an accusatory finger at the Gangrel before turning once more to the thuggish Anarch. "You! This is your response to criticism?! How dare you call yourself an Anarch! You are no better than those you claim to despise!"

"Great, erf, keep scolding him Grandpa. Maybe you'll finally get through. If you get lost, he'll calm down sooner- I can't hold him much longer, for f!~%'s sake."

Rick stops stabbing the guy and backs away. "ah, I was only trying to help out."

Ben grunts, barely restraining the frenzied Elder.
"What I think... is that we should take this pow-wow elsewhere and shut the door behind us, let him have the theater.... and run like hell.... before he hangs us from the rafters by our intestines... sound okay?"

So... Forgive and forget?

Juggler will spend a point of blood to use celerity and try to escape again. If he succeeds he make a run for the door.

Juggler seems to calm down a bit and changes his strategy from attack to escape.

Spending a point of will for extra success.

9d10 ⇒ (9, 10, 9, 8, 5, 10, 5, 10, 5) = 71

7 sucess

Hold: 7d10 ⇒ (7, 8, 10, 8, 1, 4, 9) = 47 = 4 successes

The gangrel is knocked sprawling to the floor when Juggler breaks his grasp.

"Unf! Well... Forgive for now, you know? Forgetting seems like a bad idea...", he says from the floor.

As Sheriff, I protect the Prince and the City... I've no beef with Juggler.. Thom makes sure Juggler hears this.

Orphan continues to wander out of the building.

Walking over, Thom offers Ben a hand up.

DireMerc, what do Joel & Mike do?

Somewhat nonplussed, 'Vince' does nothing to impede Juggler's departure. Once he is gone however, 'Vince' turns to face the others. "Technically unless & until we can convince Modius to rescind his declaration of Lextalionis, this city exists in a state of..." He trails off as he notices the child-vampire wandering off. "You! That moon-child Oracular hogwash might work on those two," pointing figuratively at the departed Prince & Anarch, "but it's going to take more than that to address the very real difficulties you yourself know we are facing so get back here!"
Somewhat deflated after what was likely a highly uncharacteristic outburst, 'Vince' finally turns now to Ben. "As we had little time before, I thank you, were it not for your timely intervention, this would quite possibly have been my final night..."

Maybe it's all a charade... and the two are in on it. Draw us out to fight for Gary, while they conserve their energies. We weaken the baddies and maybe get destroyed doing it, they clean up.

Remember, old man... I'm a whelp to you. But, you better believe you're still a whelp to them. Bow-wow. Thom can't help but laugh out loud.

All talk... what's it gonna be, Vince? The pruffi's in the pudding.

I think Joel and Mike took off as soon as Juggler showed up.
Ben waves off the offered hand.
"I'm fine. Thanks anyways.", he says gruffly, rising to his feet.

"Hell of a time to rock the boat, Vince. Hope you got a better plan than just...
hoping they both forget about this. Juggler doesn't seem the type to let things go."
Ben lets out a very human sigh.
"Feuding Elders, Sabbat, a legendary hunter and bloodbags thin on the ground. How much worse could Chicago be?"

Thom notes the waving off of the hand... another sign. They don't understand teamwork, worse... they reject it.

Lodin, my sire, is gone. Destroyed by Dane. Chicago is a bigger prize. A jewel in the midwest. It will be contested hotly. With any luck, it will draw attention away from Gary. All in all, we're 10 miles away.

If we can pull Gary out of the oblivion it is slipping into, we can see about Chicago. One step at a time. Does anyone know what's going on here... I got here last night.

Sighing, 'Vince' looks at the two of them. "First, never try to make jokes again, it's not your strength."
"Second...
The fact that they both departed when neither had sufficient apparent impetus is cause for consideration...
Consideration that I will not be making for you."
Holding up his hands placatingly, he continues. "I can 'tell' you any number of things, but I know you don't want me doing your thinking for you & as a consequence you are going to either reject my observations out of hand, or draw precisely the wrong conclusions from them." Contemplating briefly, he adds. "Both of which amount to much the same end, really."
Turning fully to Thom once more. "You claim Lodin as your sire. From everything I have heard of him, he never embraces-
embraced,
without a reason."
"Why did he embrace you? What was your utility to him?"
As he awaits a reply from Thom, 'Vince' turns back to Ben. "Chicago is presently ground zero for a Praxis contention between every Kindred from here to Milwaukee who thinks they have the personal power or backing to make a play for it. If past experience has taught me anything, it is enough to know that if I had the means to safely leave the state, I would be wise to do so."

Thom listens. Help me, Vinccenso. No more platitudes, say something meaningful. Make considerations for me.

I just shot an Elder to back Ben up and help save your condescending self. And to answer your question, I was something Lodin didn't have. Someone he could trust.

"Much as hitting the road sounds good right now, I came here to carve out someplace permanent."
Ben scratches his beard.
"Population problem. That's something that can be tackled- feuds, hunters and Sabbat aside. Rick, you're a DJ right? And there's this zombie walk coming through, and we have a lot of abandoned warehouses around. So- what we should do is throw an after-party. Once the main event is over, we just break into a warehouse or two and set up. Charge a cover at the door, serve cheap beer and shots, music and lights, the whole thing. Kids that are into Joy Division and Nine Inch Nails love urban blight like this. We get Gary a reputation for DIY fun, bars and restaurants may start getting into the cheap real estate. Artist spaces. S&!~ like that."

Thom nods his head appreciatively. I like it.

"Well as entertaining as this was I will be returning to my RV, you know how it is lots of plotting to do..." she says with her enigmatic smile. She heads for the door followed by her bodyguard.

"That's what I was trying to accomplish. Well, talking about trying to accomplish. I only got here yesterday, so I haven't done anything yet." Rick says, his agreement obvious. "Another tip, since we have so many warehouses. Keep the party moving. One night over here, the next time over there. Keeps it mysterious, also keeps everyone from showing up at the beginning. Draws the party out longer. But yeah, I would love to DJ it. I haven't been the admin guy, but I have seen a few of them work. I need to get some DJ equipment though, I came here on my bike, all that stuff needs a trailer."

I'd like to draw attention to my Fame 1, Resources 2, and Allies 2. Would this be sufficient that I could call for a delivery of some turntables and a sound system from Chicago? My allies would be back in Chicago, my old club owner or some old co-workers (either in the club scene or the crime scene) and resources could conceivably include DJ equipment. If not, i could borrow it with the promise of a % of my income from the gig.