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Hey guys, if you've been invited to this Vampire the Masquerade Campaign thread, this is the discussion area you can chat about your character and I can provide 'starter' info for the game for you to access.
I'd like to get this campaign moving at a reasonable pace but appreciate we're all busy - as mentioned ideally checking the posting roughly every 3 or so days is probably ideal but of course, if you need to step away just shout!
being my first play-by-post RPG and my first RPG game in a loooooooong time it's plausible I'll add my own delays to this process anyway so I'm not stressing provided we're keeping it going.
A few Rules tidbits as I'm fairly sure you're each fairly new to VTM. The second post will portray what being a Vampire is all about so you understand your new uh, 'powers' inherent to your characters.
VTM is run purely on D10 rolls (no other dice are used). No more then 10 of these should really be needed and it's probable fewer will be fine as well.
To understand your character's competency in the various Attributes and Abilities that define your character use the following;
Zero dots; Abyssmal
1 dot; Poor
2 dots; Average
3 dots; Good
4 dots; Exceptional
5 dots; Superb
VTM uses a 'Difficulty' check akin to most RPG's when your characters perform the various actions including attempting to strike an enemy in melee, manipulating or cajoling another into giving you information, picking a lock, hacking a computer and much more. This Difficulty rating is determined by myself, as is the relevant Attribute and Skill involved and then the relevant player rolls enough D10 equal to dots they have invested in the appropriate attribute and skills being employed to determine success. Every D10 roll equal to or higher then the task's difficult is a 'success' - the more success indicates the more successful you completed the task (or perhaps, with more fliar, skill or with unexpected bonuses!)
Example;
Two of your characters are in a car being chased by the police (they are firing on you from their vehicle). One of you is driving, the other is in the back seat firing at them with a gun through the broken windscreen.
The Driver hits a wet patch in the road and attempts to keep control of the car at high speed. I decide the Difficulty of this task is 7 (it being fairly challenging to keep control of a high speed car in the wet whilst being shot by police!) and that the relevant Attribute and Skill involved is Wits and Drive (though perhaps under other circumstance it would've been Dexterity and Drive, etc).
You reference your character sheet and have a combined 5 dots in Wits and Drive th. You roll 5 D10 and score a 2 , 4, 5, 6 and a 9 - meaning three successes.
Based on your roll, I inform you that you manage to keep the car on the road without losing control but the drive is still bumpy imposing a higher difficult to the other player as they fire from the back seat. You're in no danger of losing control of the car though!
If you had rolled a 7, 8, 8, 9 and a 10 though I would likely say you not only keep control of the car but do it in such style and ease that you are able to avoid bumps in the road and not only does the player character in the backseat find it easier to hit the police car with their shots, but you are able to 'lead' the pursuing vehicle into the variety of potholes, bumps and other obstacles on the road in an attempt to cause them to collie.
This is purely an example and it gives you an idea of the possible scope of outcomes the game can produce. How many successes you get will demonstrate the margin between just how successful you really were.
Note that any roll of a '1' cancels out one of your success results as well!
Just like Pathfinder, there's the possibility of automatic success - this usually being the case where I decide it appropriate or you find that your number of dice exceeds the difficult rating before you even roll. Stressful situations and combat invariably never meet with these automatic successes.
Combat when it occurs does begin with rolling inititiave (which is 1D10 + Dex + Wits) with whoever rolls highest being first.
Cheers,