New York by Night (V20)

Game Master karlprosek

Likely PCs:
Roos van Hoek, Toreador club promoter (Nomadical)
Michael Halifax, Tremere scholar (Talomyr)
Paris O'Sullivan, Giovanni playwright (KeeperofRunes)
Shane Driscoll, Brujah whip? (Ridge)

Mentioned:
Gangrel (ElbowtotheFace)
body-switcher, Malkavian or Lasombra (Edelsmirge)
Tremere lawyer (Dragoncat)

Speaking of Tremere politics, Talomyr (since I think you're the most familiar with VtM lore)- where does your PC stand with respect to Aisling/Genie/Imp? He's an occult scholar, but you can't be apolitical as a Tremere neonate even if you want to be, so which Tremere faction/chantry has he fallen in with?

Yeah, if you don't mind not being a native New Yorker let's say Shane and his mom and sister were mass embraced somewhere else, probably south of NYC- Philly, DC, or Atlanta could work if you want them to be from a big city. Or anywhere, really, if you have a good idea where you want the family to be from.

While I don't know the area well, I think I'll go with Philly or a small town outside of it. I don't know if a college near there has a scholarship for Baseball, but even if one doesn't now in the real world, maybe one did back then.

Don't forget that while I want to see neonate sheets to start with, you will get 35 XP to spend after creation to put the PCs right on the cusp of being ancillae.

Also once we're done with Session Zero and establishing how the PCs are a coterie, I'll give bonus pooled background points to share between the PCs based on what you guys work out between you.

Well, the sheet set up in my profile now seems to have all Merits, flaws and freebies spent if you want to give it a look over. I bumped up his Int as it fit the Brujah's mental side a bit, but with 35 exp coming I could buy it up from 2 to 3 with that instead if there's something you feel is missing from the start.

The Dark Secret flaw is probably more about

Just so you know, GM, this'll be the profile I'm going to use for my Tremere lawyer.

I'm contemplating taking the Enemy flaw at 3 points--perhaps that could refer to a rival within her chantry or a mortal organization she angered in the course of her lawyer career?

Sorry, been minimal internet for a bit but tomorrow I’ll be back on and should be able to put in more stuff!

I'm still here. Busy weekend with GenCon. I'll relook at potential Level Up options on Monday.

Is there anything in particular that you want in our taglines?

Alright, Victoria's neonate sheet should be ready.

Still working on adjusting her background. For this chronicle, I was hoping I could have Aisling Sturbridge as Victoria's sire & mentor. I'm trying to work things so that both Victoria's background and Aisling's background are in alignment, and that's a bit of a hitch to work out...

Ok here I am and am constructing my vampire

Alrighty! Victoria should be ready for your perusal, GM!

Still working but general outline is coming along

Sorry days got away a bit more but I should be out of the worst of it now!

I like this concept a lot, Keeper. Just a couple of questions- when was your PC born and embraced? Do you intend for them to be a new vampire? I have no problem with that- if you want your PC to be new to the world of vampires like you're new to the game system, that works perfectly. We could simulate that by limiting the expenditure of your XP to anything except Disciplines.

Do you want to sketch out two or three of the Giovanni, Ventrue, and Toreador vampire artists you described and I'll write out a couple to flesh out Paris's sire's coterie?

I think it works best for them to be a new embrace probably less than a year old maybe 5-7 months. And yes I'd love to sketch out a few! I'll probably do the Ventrue lead actor and a Toreador scenic artist!

Let me see what I can see, getting the itch once more.

I'm still here. Busy weekend with GenCon. I'll relook at potential Level Up options on Monday.

Is there anything in particular that you want in our taglines?

I can't think of anything we need to put in the PC headers.

Looking at your sheet, I think you have 2 Freebie points left to spend? Or you could just cross off the Vulnerability to Silver.

Can you describe your Domain and Herd, please?

Do you have any thoughts on your Mentor? Since it's just 1 dot, they could be older/stronger but distant or closer and not as powerful. What would you think of having one of the Harpies as your Mentor- Thomas Arturo? He'd be a 1 dot Mentor because he's very busy (he's an in demand architect and designer as well as a Harpy) so he doesn't have a ton of time for Roos. Socially it's a good fit because he has a lot of rich and/or famous clients, the kind of people Roos would like to put on the guest lists for her parties.

Alrighty! Victoria should be ready for your perusal, GM!

Math looks good. Victoria's approved. Go ahead and apply your XP.

Interesting that your PC has a similar background to Carter Vanderweyden. I wonder if your Enemy might be Carter himself- maybe he was hoping to embrace this impressive new lawyer and is pissed she got poached by the Tremere. Hmm.

Well, the sheet set up in my profile now seems to have all Merits, flaws and freebies spent if you want to give it a look over. I bumped up his Int as it fit the Brujah's mental side a bit, but with 35 exp coming I could buy it up from 2 to 3 with that instead if there's something you feel is missing from the start.

The Dark Secret flaw is probably more about ** spoiler omitted **. I notice you are suggesting the Whip position for him. That works, and he would definitely not want the current Brujah primogen knowing that dark secret.

Math looks good, Shane. Approved. Go ahead and apply your 35 XP.

Can you describe your Allies, Domain, and Herd, please?

I think it works best for them to be a new embrace probably less than a year old maybe 5-7 months. And yes I'd love to sketch out a few! I'll probably do the Ventrue lead actor and a Toreador scenic artist!

OK, cool. I look forward to seeing them and your sheet when you're ready.

Neat-o!

Incidentally, there is the Rival Sires flaw... I admittedly wasn't thinking of it when I made Victoria.

EDIT: XP has been spent. I'll admit I'm not entirely versed in how Thaumaturgy works regarding secondary paths.

I'm a little confused on the game's timeline--when's this campaign set again? 2012?

Backgrounds is one area I wasn't sure about. But I got an idea...

Ally- Mr. Alfonso Sanchez manages the Parasol Hotel, a small dump of a hotel owned in part by Shane's family's benefactor. He was startled to find Shane move in but the owner insisted. At first Mister Sanchez left Shane alone to his room, but when some guys tried to break into the place to rob it (Not the best neighborhood), Shane took it on himself to intervene and kicked their asses. Ever since then, Mr. Sanchez has been a friend to the Brujah even if he doesn't understand his nature. This could get to be a problem as Shane's lack of aging becomes too obvious but he only moved in recently so no worries. Besides, Mr. Sanchez doesn't ask too many questions. Mr. Sanchez hopes to buy the property one day, feeling values can only go up (And given how the years will unfold in the 21st century, he's right). Alfonso has pull in the local area with other business owners and can raise a stink on neighborhood councils. Shane is fond of the guy because they have a common love of sports.

Domain- The Parasol hotel is not prime feeding ground per se, but Shane has established even to other licks that it is his turf, or at least, the regular staff and Mr. Sanchez are off limits. He also insists on non violent feedings for those guests that are on the okay list. As the hotel's protector (Part time anyway), Mr. Sanchez (See above) is quick to mention discretely to Shane about odd pale strangers who aren't local. Shane might be able to exert exclusive feeding rights to the hotel and the grounds about it but that might rile the anarchs too much (And would probably be more like 2 dots instead of 1)

Generation- As his backstory indicates, Shane was embraced by Skudge. Given Skudge's sect, it's possible Skudge lowered his own generation the old fashioned way by feeding on some poor Cam. Doesn't matter as Skudge was destroyed. However, thanks to a tremere test, Shane knows his 'generation' and that it means anyone he embraces will become a Brujah. He's been tempted more than once. With his family at odds, a childer of his own might be good company. But he worries about the ethics of selection, and of course, permission.

Herd- Mostly consisting of staff at the Parasol hotel, Shane feeds from them and some guests. He prefers to feed from women, but isn't stupid enough to turn down a meal. Two maids are very into it, not that they quite understand how the young man makes them feel so good. One of the kitchen staff actually saves animal blood for him gained from the butcher and doesn't ask questions. It tastes like s&&~ but sometimes the maids and receptionist at the front aren't available. A few guests are repeat visitors, usually ones looking for a good deal (Compared to other NYC options) and Shane has added one or two of them from his herd too.

Resources- Shane should be better off than he is. He has some finances pocketed away, pays nothing for room or board, and gets some money from doing odd jobs at the hotel. However, he also kicks some money over to his sister. For all her Anarch banter, she hasn't turned down the cash.

I actually hope to boost some of those backgrounds in the future. Not sure if you allow exp use for that.

Okay, spent 25 out of 35 exp so far. Not sure what to do with the last ten.

It also occurs to me you might expect me to at least freaking name Shane's 'surviving' (if not breathing) family members. Or you may have ideas yourself. But in case you didn't, here's what I got so far...

Shane's mother, formerly Eva Diana Moreno Driscoll used to go by "Evie", but now has dropped her married name and does not answer to Evie at all. Perhaps she believes her maiden name of Portuguese origin is more fitting given her clan. Maybe she merely thinks that the embrace counts as 'until death do you part'.

Shane's sister, Casandra "Cassie" Ellen Driscoll , on the other hand, goes by "Kaz" now. Possibly for the harder edge of the sound, maybe because who wants to be called "Cassie" by Anarchs?

Ok here is a background and update for my character who is basically done and ready to buy a few dots from the 35 points.

I am contemplating a Malkavian, I have one I created who I like but he's a bit too old for this timeline (an 1192 creation).

I am also contemplating a Nosferatu, I've not played one in a LONG time.

EDIT: OK, I am going Nosferatu, I have I think a different concept which should be interesting.

I'll need till the weekend to flesh out the background. ST, let me know if anything in here is objectionable and I'll adjust.

Near to finishing up Paris sheet then I'll get backgrounds on the two others! I was wondering if I could take a merit that is "Dialect knowledge" which lets me imitate regional dialects and foreign dialects of languages I know and if so how many points it would cost!

Looking at your sheet, I think you have 2 Freebie points left to spend? Or you could just cross off the Vulnerability to Silver.

In that case, I'll remove it.

Can you describe your Domain and Herd, please?

Do you have any thoughts on your Mentor? Since it's just 1 dot, they could be older/stronger but distant or closer and not as powerful. What would you think of having one of the Harpies as your Mentor- Thomas Arturo? He'd be a 1 dot Mentor because he's very busy (he's an in demand architect and designer as well as a Harpy) so he doesn't have a ton of time for Roos. Socially it's a good fit because he has a lot of rich and/or famous clients, the kind of people Roos would like to put on the guest lists for her parties.

Mentor (●) I read the bio of Thomas Arturo in NY by Night, and I assumed he was out of reach for the 1 dot. But it does actually make a lot of sense as you say. How about the Consortium obtained a piece of Renaissance art for Arturo that was crucial to an architecture project. Keeping an eye on Roos is how he’s repaying them. He thinks he got the better end of that bargain, given what he got from the client for the completed project, which might have even been one of the two that he’s listed as getting blood bonds for: the Maupassant chantry or Panhard’s penthouse. I think it would work, and as noted he’d certainly attend Elysium and have the contacts she needs.

Domain (●●) The Consortium bought a 4-story brown-stone walk up in the Upper West side through an off-shore shell company. Roos lives on the top floor, and a portion of the rents goes to her. The other tenants include Dee Dee and Janet, a sweet, old, retired lesbian couple on the 3rd floor. Karl, a hulking and ugly but surprisingly intelligent Lithuanian immigrant lives on the 2nd floor and drives luxury ride share in a blacked-out Cadillac CT6. He’s by no means Roos’ private driver, but she prefers riding with someone she knows when she needs to get around. The first floor houses three flight attendants (two gals - Sally and Leticia - and Jason the gay guy) who come and go with such frequency that their small space is never crowded. When they’re home, they like keeping it quiet as they do all their partying on the road with the pilots, and they often end up day-sleeping after working red-eye or international flights. The basement unit seems to have a rotating crop of tenants due to its perpetually damp floors, but that just makes it easy to feed on the new residents on occasion.

Having grown up in the security of the Netherlands and then coming to the recently liberated and often violent New York, Roos is just a little concerned for her personal safety. To allay her fear, she’s had elaborate security installed in the building and even arranged to place cameras and motion sensors in the light poles and nearby buildings. Of course she doesn’t monitor them full time, but she’s got the 3rd floor ladies checking them occasionally and watching for unwanted guests and potential hooligans. One dot for a small domain, and one dot for domain security.

Herd (●) Sally the flight attendant simply can’t get enough of the Kiss, but she’s not always around. The lighting guy at her club, The Null Space, is a handsome young man named Mark. He was quick to hit on Roos when she started, but he was always respectful, and she enjoys giving him the Kiss. She’s even considered Embracing him since his creative use of lighting effects is an apt fit for the clan, but she’s not sure how long she’ll be in the US before the Consortium recalls her to Europe, and she doesn’t want to have to abandon him here. She’s also begun grooming one of the bartenders, an older guy named Jim who seems to understand what’s going on with it. She thinks he was probably part of someone else’s herd before, but she hasn’t asked him about it directly yet.

Resources (●●) Her share of the rent from the brownstone, plus her income from the club provides a nice quality of life and keeps her wardrobe stocked. She saved a good bit of money from when she worked in Amsterdam and made some good investments during the financial crisis of the late 2000’s that have paid off (assuming that fits the timeline.)

For Victoria's part:

Resources 3: She still works as a lawyer, but instead of working for Sedgwick-Hampton she now works a private practice. Her clients are now a mix of mortals and Kindred alike.

Mentor 3: High Regent Aisling Sturbridge is her sire and keeps her in the Barnard College chantry as her apprentice/assistant/personal lawyer. Victoria is well aware that it's not an equal arrangement, but considering the alternative (as far as she's aware) was dying on an Atlanta sidewalk, it's an acceptable one for now.

Leveling with 35 XP:

3 XP: Professional Skill Language ● for Spanish and “City Urban”

2 XP: Increase Firearms to ●● Gun ownership and shooting ranges are not at all common in the Netherlands, so her skills with guns were minimal and only learned after her Embrace. Since moving to the more violent and dangerous City, she’s gotten membership in a 24-hour gun range frequented by other Kindred and been practicing.

3 XP: New ability Melee ● And in keeping with improving her survivability, she started taking some martial arts classes including Krav Megrav (like every other hot blonde in the City,) but also Eskrima, the Filipino knife fighting style.

5 XP: Increase Presence to ●●
5 XP Increase Celerity to ●●

8 XP: Increase Intelligence to ●●● One of her goals is being taken seriously, and she’s found that in a City of actresses, models claiming to be actresses, and escorts posing as models, she certainly can’t rely on her looks. She’s been hitting the books to learn languages and new skills and it’s paying off by improving her general critical thinking and mental flexibility.

4 XP: Increase Etiquette to ●●● She hadn’t spent much time at Elysium back home, but with her new assignment and the opportunities to attend the kind of high-class parties that the City is known for, both Kindred and Kine, she’s been refining her social skill.

5 XP: Increase Willpower to ●●●●●● (6) As the book says, “Willpwer measures a character’s inner drive.” Back home, she wasn’t being pushed to perform, but now she’s representing the Consortium and she’s facing a lot of challenges. She’s not gonna back down, and she’s driven to succeed.

More background added from backgrounds

I think Paris is done expect experience!

I'm a little confused on the game's timeline--when's this campaign set again? 2012?

It's modern day- the first day of the campaign will be whatever day we start play, 2022. We're pushing back the Cam takeover of NYC to 2012 instead of 1999 and saying that Calebros was convinced to stay in office as Prince for 10 years through the last night of 2022.

Neat-o!

Incidentally, there is the Rival Sires flaw... I admittedly wasn't thinking of it when I made Victoria.

That would be cool if you want to involve Carter, but if you have an idea for your Enemy then be my guest.

EDIT: XP has been spent. I'll admit I'm not entirely versed in how Thaumaturgy works regarding secondary paths.

The first dot in a new Path costs 7 XP; it's not considered a separate Discipline (except for Countermagic, which is its own Discipline). You can start taking secondary Paths once you have 2 dots in your primary Path; the primary Path always has to have more dots than any secondary Path (so for example if you have Path of Blood 3 you can only have a maximum of 2 dots in any secondary path).

You can also have a number of free Rituals up to your level of Thaumaturgy, 1 level 1 Ritual and either 2 more level 1 Rituals or a single level 2 Ritual.

I actually hope to boost some of those backgrounds in the future. Not sure if you allow exp use for that.

I like the Parasol Hotel, Shane, thanks! Do you have a preference for where in the city this is or should I just drop it somewhere? I'd probably put it in the Bronx somewhere if you leave it to me.

Yes, you can increase your Backgrounds with XP. It will cost (current rating x2) to improve a Background or 3 points for a new Background, just like an Ability.

After character creation, you'll still be able to increase existing Backgrounds but acquiring a new Background has to be established IC as a result of roleplay.

The obvious exception is Generation- after character creation your Generation is locked unless you Diablerize someone.

Ok here is a background and update for my character who is basically done and ready to buy a few dots from the 35 points.

I think you're over by 1 Freebie point, Jericho. Maybe just lose the Allies dot?

Also you have him listed at 8th Gen but have 0 dots in Generation.

This guy is blood bound to a Sabbat Old Clan Tszimice who's been in NYC since 1916- how do you see him joining a coterie of modern (mostly-) Camarilla members? I don't have a problem with a mixed coterie but I would like to know how you think he fits with other PCs.

For location, it looks like most Russian emigration to NYC around 1916 was to Hamilton Heights in West Harlem. That's interesting since there's been a big demographic shift since then. Would Cezar and Jericho have stayed there as the neighborhood changed or would they have moved to Brighton Beach where the majority of Russian (and Ukrainian) speakers live now (since about the 1970s)?

What were Cezar and Jericho doing during the Cam invasion of the city? How did they survive the purge?

I'll need till the weekend to flesh out the background. ST, let me know if anything in here is objectionable and I'll adjust.

Math looks good, Shadow. Could you do everybody a favor and write out the False Reflection Merit for us? I'm familiar with it and am good with you using it but I don't see it in the V20 book so I want everybody to see it in case they want to use it for their PC.

I see Zelios is your guy's sire- you cool with him still being missing instead of woken from torpor in LA?

I'll wait to see your background before I start asking questions.

Near to finishing up Paris sheet then I'll get backgrounds on the two others! I was wondering if I could take a merit that is "Dialect knowledge" which lets me imitate regional dialects and foreign dialects of languages I know and if so how many points it would cost!

Sure. Let's just call it a 1 point Merit you only need to take once. The PC has an ear for regional dialects and is good at accents. Sounds like a 1 pt Merit to me.

Domain (●●) The Consortium bought a 4-story brown-stone walk up in the Upper West side through an off-shore shell company. Roos lives on the top floor, and a portion of the rents goes to her. The other tenants include Dee Dee and Janet, a sweet, old, retired lesbian couple on the 3rd floor. Karl, a hulking and ugly but surprisingly intelligent Lithuanian immigrant lives on the 2nd floor and drives luxury ride share in a blacked-out Cadillac CT6. He’s by no means Roos’ private driver, but she prefers riding with someone she knows when she needs to get around. The...

Looks great, Roos! One question: where do you see the Null Space being located? Or do you just want me to place it somewhere?

I think Paris is done expect experience!

I think you have 1 Freebie point left, Paris. You could just buy off one of your 1 point Flaws.

Also you get 1 free Ritual per dot in Necromancy, starting with 1 level 1 Ritual then a combination of 4 other levels in Rituals (you could have 5 level 1 Rituals or 1 level 1 and 1 level 4 or whatever you want).

After that, go ahead and apply your 35 XP.

Do you have ideas about who Paris's sire is? What do you think her relationship is like to the Clan as a whole? With Incomplete Understanding, has she even really been introduced to the idea of the Clan and the Sects?

Storyteller Shadow wrote:
I'll need till the weekend to flesh out the background. ST, let me know if anything in here is objectionable and I'll adjust.

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Math looks good, Shadow. Could you do everybody a favor and write out the False Reflection Merit for us? I'm familiar with it and am good with you using it but I don't see it in the V20 book so I want everybody to see it in case they want to use it for their PC.

[False Reflection (3pt. Merit)

Even when using their Obfuscate abilities, Nosferatu still show up in their true form when noticed by machines, such as cameras or video surveillance. With this ability, the Nosferatu can extend their power to recorded images and media. However, as with Mask of the Thousand Faces, the original image isn’t actually changed; it is just that people see it the way the Nosferatu wants it seen. Unfortunately, computers are not so easily fooled: if the image is used for facial recognition software (for instance), the computer will see the Nosferatu’s real face and fail to find a match. The Nosferatu has best take care how this power is used, as it may wear off in time. Some archived photos have given librarians a nasty surprise, years after going into storage.]

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I see Zelios is your guy's sire- you cool with him still being missing instead of woken from torpor in LA?

Absolutely, I was going to write the Background as if I had not seen him in some time.

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I'll wait to see your background before I start asking questions.

I will have it done for Sunday.

I think you have 1 Freebie point left, Paris. You could just buy off one of your 1 point Flaws.

Also you get 1 free Ritual per dot in Necromancy, starting with 1 level 1 Ritual then a combination of 4 other levels in Rituals (you could have 5 level 1 Rituals or 1 level 1 and 1 level 4 or whatever you want).

After that, go ahead and apply your 35 XP.

Do you have ideas about who Paris's sire is? What do you think her relationship is like to the Clan as a whole? With Incomplete Understanding, has she even really been introduced to the idea of the Clan and the Sects?

I'll use it to grab the Dialect Merit!

and Her sire is Rudolph Puca A faculty member at NYU and leader of the theatre company my thought is that none of the members of the theatre company have really been introduced to the Clans or Sects. They all were Sired by individuals who quickly met their Final Death before they were introduced and Puca found each of them and took them under his wing. Does that seem to work?

I spent 14 on dominate and 1 pt for background and switching the background around more to reflect a bunch of dominated help who stayed in the old neighborhood when the Russians moved just a run down old book store. Took out bound and added unconvinced to show that he was never on any side and the way that they didn't get caught is that Jericho used a lot of mortals as spies in the local neighborhood and even after the Russians left they were close enough to the border of the Burrough to run under the radar as neither he nor his sire went out much.

One question: where do you see the Null Space being located? Or do you just want me to place it somewhere?

In a previous post (admittedly buried deep) I'd placed it in Chelsea. But TBH, I don't know the City well, so if you have a better idea or one that fits for the coterie, then by all means change it. There's no pride in authorship on that minor point.

Added Thaumaturgical rituals.

The idea I had for an Enemy would be the serial killer Victoria had managed to convict in her background: Gavin Cartwright was a Tzimisce agent who hunted Tremere vampires and took pride in slaying them without suffering consequences, legal or otherwise. Victoria successfully getting him convicted at Aisling Sturbridge's behest was a great blow to his ego--and the fact she's now a Tremere is bound to give him more reason to go after her.

I like the Parasol Hotel, Shane, thanks! Do you have a preference for where in the city this is or should I just drop it somewhere? I'd probably put it in the Bronx somewhere if you leave it to me.

Yes, you can increase your Backgrounds with XP. It will cost (current rating x2) to improve a Background or 3 points for a new Background, just like an Ability.

After character creation, you'll still be able to increase existing Backgrounds but acquiring a new Background has to be established IC as a result of roleplay.

Okay, that's funny. You see I did a duckduckgo search for 'cheapest hotels in NYC' and one of them was "Umbrella Hotel" in the Bronx. Apparently it was ranked as being friendly by some, a decent hotel in a not so nice area by others. While I didn't want a direct rip off so it could be tweaked more easily, that comment 'Decent in a not so nice area' appealed so I made the 'Parasol' hotel. So your pick of the Bronx is full circle! Sounds great (and turns out there is an Umbrella hotel in Brooklyn too, glad I changed it, I didn't want a chain.. though who knows how far it will go in the future )

I find my greed for saving points by RPing up his backgrounds over time so I can get disciplines boosted faster warring with my desire for immediate gratification. I know you mentioned Status for the Camarilla connections and if that's still in tact I think I'm good there. I think I'm going to make Shane half owner of the hotel, raise his Resources to 2. I'll buy his WP up to 7, which should lead to 2 exp left over which I'll bank if that's okay?

I would like the PCs to be an existing coterie of experienced but not elder vampires. It would be cool if one or more of the PCs was a member of the Camarilla- if everybody wants to submit a Cam concept I'd be willing to give everybody a free dot in Status, but if not I can live with a mixed coterie where one or two PCs has been selected for membership but the others haven't.

Judging by this post earlier made by our ST, that we'd be an existing Coterie for the most part (Since 2012), should we also work out general attitudes and a brief idea how they've gotten along so far?

I'm reminded of those old supplements with portraits on a page with arrows pointing between everyone with brief summaries of how they felt towards the others :)

Well, as a point of reference for a coterie, Victoria could easily have taken anyone here as a client...

Well, as a point of reference for a coterie, Victoria could easily have taken anyone here as a client...

If she knows anything about real estate laws, Shane might have gone to her. That said, if she had veterans really down on their luck and in need of a hotel discount for just a short while, he could probably arrange it.

Speaking of Tremere politics, Talomyr (since I think you're the most familiar with VtM lore)- where does your PC stand with respect to Aisling/Genie/Imp? He's an occult scholar, but you can't be apolitical as a Tremere neonate even if you want to be, so which Tremere faction/chantry has he fallen in with?

Sorry about the delay, hadn't noticed/forgot the discussion thread was active.

As to your question - he is definitely more closely aligned with the Imp. He sees Aisling as foolish for wasting the opportunity and power she has to claim more of NYC for the House and Clan. He doesn't have much of an opinion either way on Genie.

I presume that some or all have attended parties or special events at The Null Space, or even just come clubbing on a regular night looking for a hip crowd, great DJs, and a fabulous buffet of hot, young Kine.

Roos attends Elysium and I would assume at least one or two others do also, though maybe not all. May have met there, of course.

Anyone else taking Krav Magra at that place on West 66th by Central Park? The owner caters to busy working Manhattan professionals by scheduling classes and private sessions in the late evening. Which works nicely for a "morning" workout training session. (She doesn't need to burn the calories any more, of course, just learn the skills.)

Is there an equivalent of gaydar* for vampires? If two Kindred bump into each other out and about in Kine society, can they instantly tell?

*Was pleasantly surprised to see "gaydar" as an answer in the NYT Crossword the other day.

Is there an equivalent of gaydar* for vampires?

Well, there's Auspex...

Roos van Hoek wrote:

Is there an equivalent of gaydar* for vampires?

Well, there's Auspex...

Recognize there is a joke here, but...

Auspex would work if actively used and you have at least level 2 (Aura Reading).

Otherwise, to the best of my knowledge there isn't anything like that in V:tM like there is in Vampire: the Requiem.

I presume that some or all have attended parties or special events at The Null Space, or even just come clubbing on a regular night looking for a hip crowd, great DJs, and a fabulous buffet of hot, young Kine.

Roos attends Elysium and I would assume at least one or two others do also, though maybe not all. May have met there, of course.

Anyone else taking Krav Magra at that place on West 66th by Central Park? The owner caters to busy working Manhattan professionals by scheduling classes and private sessions in the late evening. Which works nicely for a "morning" workout training session. (She doesn't need to burn the calories any more, of course, just learn the skills.)

Is there an equivalent of gaydar* for vampires? If two Kindred bump into each other out and about in Kine society, can they instantly tell?

*Was pleasantly surprised to see "gaydar" as an answer in the NYT Crossword the other day.

Oh good reminder there. Yes. Shane would be a regular at Elysium to make sure Clan Brujah isn't ignored (They're such shy quiet fellows, you know?)

And while he might have to get carded for ordering a drink (He was embraced at 21 is my idea); he's actually a good dancer (Dex 4, Performance 2) so might do more than mingle at the club.

And like Victoria's player (edit: And Talomyr) said, Auspex two can usually tell you if an aura is vampiric. Of course, if they don't spend that blood point to flush their skin or breath for a scene, then an alert Lick can probably make some guesses without it.

I always imagined vampires had a bit of private jargon and codewords they brought up now and then.

I think Paris is gonna be the hardest to connect but possibly would be seen at The Null Space or the Krav Magra joint. In addition if any of you were involved in academia in town or interested in theatre those are the easiest connections.

Possible that Paris has helped out with mixes at The Null Space or DJ'd there as well!

I imagine Victoria would be a regular attendee at Elysium, if only so she can put out feelers for any Kindred in need of legal representation.

Null Space sounds like a good enough place for her to feed; the music isn't always to her tastes (she's a child of Sixties & Seventies classic rock), but she's discovering there's a couple of modern bands she doesn't entirely hate.

I presume that some or all have attended parties or special events at The Null Space, or even just come clubbing on a regular night looking for a hip crowd, great DJs, and a fabulous buffet of hot, young Kine.

Roos attends Elysium and I would assume at least one or two others do also, though maybe not all. May have met there, of course.

Anyone else taking Krav Magra at that place on West 66th by Central Park? The owner caters to busy working Manhattan professionals by scheduling classes and private sessions in the late evening. Which works nicely for a "morning" workout training session. (She doesn't need to burn the calories any more, of course, just learn the skills.)

Is there an equivalent of gaydar* for vampires? If two Kindred bump into each other out and about in Kine society, can they instantly tell?

*Was pleasantly surprised to see "gaydar" as an answer in the NYT Crossword the other day.

Priam absolutely would attend Elysium. He would likely go to Null Space if anyone worth seeing there would be there. He's not your average Nos.

No Krav Maga, he's an artist, not a fighter.

Is gaydar now an actual dictionary word? [Looks it up] Yes, indeed it is now defined by Merriam etc.

Null Space sounds like a good enough place for her to feed; the music isn't always to her tastes (she's a child of Sixties & Seventies classic rock), but she's discovering there's a couple of modern bands she doesn't entirely hate.

That's partly why I used an open-ended name. It implies that there's nothing there, a blank slate, a Space that can be anything or nothing. So if there's demand, she'll book a classic rock cover band, or a grunge revival group, or even some new K-Pop group that no one's heard of yet. No country or comedy, though. You have to have some standards.

Possible that Paris has helped out with mixes at The Null Space or DJ'd there as well!

Get on up here, Girl! Show us your House! Or sing your own poetic lyrics on an otherwise slow Tuesday night. Roos would even duet with you [Performance 3 (Singing)].

I always imagined vampires had a bit of private jargon and codewords they brought up now and then.

Caidar: "kay-dar" as in Cain or the K in Kindred? Though knowing modern culture, there would be disagreement among the users of the term as to which one it's from, Cain or Kindred.

If she knows anything about real estate laws, Shane might have gone to her.

Victoria's had quite a lot of time to become familiar with all sorts of legal fields thanks to her Embrace, so she'd be a jack-of-all-trades in that regard--real estate, tax law, contract law, criminal cases, etc.

All this talk of Krav Maga makes me think Shane should have brought up his brawl a bit more ;) He probably had his share of fist fights (And later after being vamped street fights) plus maybe some self defense classes as a kid. Not that he sucks, but nothing too fancy.

Shane Driscoll wrote:

If she knows anything about real estate laws, Shane might have gone to her.

Victoria's had quite a lot of time to become familiar with all sorts of legal fields thanks to her Embrace, so she'd be a jack-of-all-trades in that regard--real estate, tax law, contract law, criminal cases, etc.

Woot. Useful Warlock indeed!

Well, once I get Thaumaturgy 4, I won't need a gun. :)

Well, once I get Thaumaturgy 4, I won't need a gun. :)

HA! No you will not *G*

Do we have an eta on when we are looking to start? I can rush to finish things up now but if I don’t rush it out now I probably won’t be able to finish till Wednesday is that okay?