I promised I will take part in a play by post of VtM.
The ST is very by the book and I haven't the time nor predisposition to start reading the lore.
I want to know if there are character templates out there, so I can jump start. I was thinking of some form of detective vampire type?
Hundreds of the bloody things, is the simple answer. I cannot point you specifically at such a template but if you know which clan your looking to play, you should be able to pick up that clan's splat book. Each clan book contained somewhere between 5 and 12 character templates. These might help.
However, honestly, if you focus on making a believable human, and you assume your character has been recently embraced, then your need almost no setting knowledge.
Such an approach also plays truer to the core themes of the setting.
Hundreds of the bloody things, is the simple answer. I cannot point you specifically at such a template but if you know which clan your looking to play, you should be able to pick up that clan's splat book. Each clan book contained somewhere between 5 and 12 character templates. These might help.
However, honestly, if you focus on making a believable human, and you assume your character has been recently embraced, then your need almost no setting knowledge.
Such an approach also plays truer to the core themes of the setting.
Thanks
My original idea was along those lines:since I dont know a lot about the setting(and most of the other players too)maybe we could become embraced during the session..start play as humans,that way we would get to know more as our characters got briefed.
I will ask the ST again but I doubt he wants to play it that way.
Found an intelligence agent pretty close to my concept within the Tremere book.(though most of the stats are missing...)
In the mean time, I have a friend telling me that this isn't supposed to be how vampire works. You can't be a detective investigating vampire cases because you are too weak now and Tremere aristocrats are poshy etc
Not helping with me liking the game at all..sounds like the balance & roleplay issues dnd has...
I'll be honest:
as long as I can carry out my concept in some form(doesnt matter who/what I'm investigating if I get to do it)
and npcs dont treat me like a lackey, I'm fine
I get starting out weaker or even not having clearence to do stuff(you evolve and win the trust of kindred during play I pressume) but I dislike the sense that ''you are insignificant and too small for me" that some GMs like to promote
Even if you are investigating vampire cases, your friend never watched the VTM tv show(see The Pirate Bay.) As a detective I would start as a Gangrel. Take heighten senses.
Arent gangrel a bit barbaric?
(he proposed the same clan btw)
At first I thought the calm and logical style of the Tremere suited a detective
BTW, I had to go to work so I could not say what I wanted.
I have only played VTM (Vampire The Masquerade) and not VTR (Vampire The Requiem).
Gangrels are your t-shirt and blue jeans kind and the Tremere more the suit and tie crowd. I would not call that barbaric but a Tremere would.
You could do a detective from any of the clans, less so as a Nosferatu. All of the clans would use skills/disiplines in their detective work. The rest is color.
Is the ST allowing merits/flaws?
Are you a detective to cover up any vampire activity? Expose the fact that vampires are out there (even though your a vampire)? Do you know what you are? Are you seeing that becoming a vampire makes you a better detective? What is you angle? This would help you in deciding which clan to choose.
A Tremere detective would have skills reflecting that he was a detective in his mortal years.
The way I would do it:
7 point mental
5 point social for Tremere, Ventrue, Toredore.
phyical for Brujah, Gangrel, Malkavian, Nosferatu.
3 point in the left over attributes group.13 points in knowledge.
9 points in talents.
5 points in skills.Background: allies, contacts, herd (unless your ST will allow you to have access to hospital blood/blood banks using your detective badge), generation (ask your ST if you can, the lower your generation number the less someone can control you), resource (it is always good to have money), status (as a new vampire, usually just one dot). There are more in other books.
Changing virtues also changes humanity/willpower.
Freebie points: I tend to put them in disciplines then in backgrounds then in abilities. Any extra points I tend to put in virtues.
Your disciplines will very depending on which clan you take. Which ever one you choose, just think how is it going to help him as a detective or protect him.
Merits use up freebie points.
Flaws give you points (up to 7), which are treated like freebie points.My 2 cents worth.
Hi thanks for your reply
I was thinking of him as a great detective (influenced by noir novels and cyberpunk in my approach) in his mortal years. He came too close to finding the truth about vampire lore.
Then someone embraced him thinking they could use someone like him within the clan.
Now he's adapting his work to suit the vampire world
Thats it in a nutshell
What do you think?
That was my idea before I realized (the link you ve sent me) that the protagonist of the tv series has a few similarities
Would he work better as a detective vampire covering up vampire activities(and taking work from humans with that agenda in mind)
or a vampire investigating vampires? (internal affairs sort of thing? or in-between clans)
On the roleplay front I could do both, maybe the vampire-vampire thing sounds more exciting though.. but on the other hand I lack lore knowledge..
In VTM everyone has two faces: the one that the sire/ clan/ vampire society sees; and the one that you see when you look in the mirror.
Always ask your ST if your approach fits what he has in mind for the game.
You could do both, your sire/ clan/ vampire society might have you investigate vampires/ crimes that the MO fits a vampire/ cover up vampire crimes; and you want to do this to learn more about vampires.
How long have you been a vampire? Up to 50 years for a newbie vampire.
Your background chooses will help you here. If you have a lot of allies/ contacts, this might be why you were made into a vampire. So they, through you, have control over these people. If you were a vampire for awhile and they trust you, you might have one dot in status, you are "known" and therefor ask to investigate/ clean up after vampires.
Internal affair: young vampires are taught not to question the doings of the older vampires. As so many writers have put it: Dreams within dreams. Circles within circles. Plots within plots. Unless they are using you for their games, they usually do not want you near them (you might ruin their fun). This is how we played our game. When something happens, are you thinking too deep? Or was it a simple event? Again, this is how I ran my games.
In between clans: in the books, most clans are not lovey-dovey. They are neutral at best and paranoid/ hateful at worst. Our group played together because of the human need to bond with others of alike kind, vampires in this case.
It is up to the ST to play into the internal affair/ in between clans ideal.
The game color is what the ST puts into it. He could make it into a game of paranoia/ adventure/ redemption/ "good" vs "evil". You will have to ask him what kind of game he likes to run. If he ran White Wolf games before with these players, talk to the players.
Let your imagination run wild!
I used all of the Story-Teller books.
I had a NPC werewolf pretending to be a Gangrel, a nasty surprise for anyone bad mouthing...
Τhank you, you ve been most helpful!
The ST is 0kay with a vampire investigating vampires, as long as I build the character detective like. He mentioned computer,drive among the other skills(?) I should take...