[Tabletop] Vampire: the Masquerade - Carpe Noctem

[Essence]

Vampire: the Masquerade
Carpe Noctem - Blood in the Water

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New York is in ruins.​

Sure, the Kine don’t suspect a fucking thing. They wake up, get out of bed, and brew themselves some decent coffee or tea or whatever the fuck their fancy is. They walk out their doors and get in their buses or taxi’s and work their nine-to-five jobs only to return home and do the same exact shit all over again. Maybe they’ll go to a party and get laid if they’re lucky, who knows? All I know is that New York will always be a God damn contradiction; It’s an icon of hope and failure, a city in which it costs two-thousand dollars to rent an apartment, and yet four-million of the city’s residents don’t even fucking make that much in a month. That’s like half the fucking population of the whole city, and I mean the WHOLE city – boroughs and all, not just Manhattan, where everyone else wants to go or end up, thinking they’ll make it big. But no, the Kine don’t suspect a thing – because they’re the fucking sheep, right?

Yeah, they don't know how far the rabbit hole falls.​

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Prince Hellene sits a top her ivory tower in Manhattan, caressing her wounds after a second battle of New York that lasted, what, five fucking years? I like to call her Princess Pan-ass though, heheh – get it? Cause she’s… Anyways, the Sabbat’s gone – just up and fucking left to heed some antediluvian booty-call in the middle-east or some shit like that, who the fuck knows that those maniacs are doing. I bet she’s thanking her maker for that, because if the Sabbat really wanted New York back – they’dve gotten New York back, hear me? Most of the Kindred in the city are fucking dead, pun not intended, but they were mostly licks not worth their salt and unfortunate shovelheads who got slapped around with the rod without receiving their carrot – though whether it the Cams or the Sabbat were performing Mass Embraces, I don’t know. It was probably both, though don’t let the Camarilla hear you say that. The Camarilla itself is weak as all hell, with seventy-five percent of its members all dead and their realm of influence being only in Manhattan and barely in the Bronx – they don’t have the sway that they once used to have in two-thousand-five.

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Though the Anarch’s really took the brunt of it all. That’s to be fucking expected though, Cams never REALLY want to get their hands dirty​

The Barons of Queens and Staten Island bit the fucking dust after a Sabbat firebombing on their havens. Leaving the Anarchs directionless – isn’t that fucking ironic, eh? Most of the old Anarchs were pushed back to their stronghold in Staten Island, trying to get a headcount of whomever the flappity-fuck is still alive. Best part is? Nobody seems to want to step up.

Though the grapevine and Nosferatu tunnels whisper that some new firebrand is starting shit near St. Albans – some hot-headed Hispanic Bloodline Manifesto woman that prefers to beat the shit out of her problems than let them take their fucking course. Fucking oldies are already calling her the Baron of Queens even though she hasn’t even fucking touched the God damn borough yet. Before we know it we’ll have the God damn Battle of the Bitches.

New York really is in fucking ruins.

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What are the Chronicles of Darkness?

The Chronicles of Darkness, formerly known as the World of Darkness or (informally) the New World of Darkness, is a modern horror setting and storytelling game that uses the Storytelling System. It presents an image of the modern world "through a looking glass darkly": more dangerous, less caring, and filled with monsters and aberrations of both the human and inhuman varieties. The Chronicles of Darkness focuses on settings relating to the modern gothic genre and brooding yet sometimes existential themes of survival, fear of the unknown, the nature and morality of man, and the powers of the supernatural.

The core of the Chronicles of Darkness is more akin to a creative writing session through the form or medium of roleplay. As a player in the Chronicles of Darkness, you explore the story and help to weave a tale through a character you create. Your character is your means to engage with the world around you, creating an atmosphere and plotline that involves and intrigues everyone at the table. With a troupe of characters, you essentially push a story through your actions.

This game isn’t much like Dungeons and Dragons, whereas you are an adventurer who joins a party and quests for experience – loot – and power (though you will be receiving plenty of that in the Chronicles of Darkness). Instead, these stories focus on human mortals who are thrust into supernatural circumstances that are way beyond their realm of control, often resulting in death or being transformed into monsters themselves. These stories are about men, women, and children with aspirations – personalities – virtues – and most importantly, flaws, and how they react to the world with those quirks. You most likely won’t be a chivalrous hero in the story – a gritty Anti-hero at best – but instead a fully fleshed-out human being who has been dragged into the gut-wrenching World of Darkness involuntarily; a person who will do anything to survive the horrors of the night. A person who will most likely never be the same again.

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What is Vampire: the Masquerade?

Vampire: The Masquerade is a tabletop role-playing game created by Mark Rein-Hagen and released in 1991 by White Wolf Publishing as the first of several Storyteller System games for its World of Darkness setting line. A major departure from the more power and heroics-oriented games of the era, VTM is a game of personal horror. It is the parent and the most popular of all the World of Darkness games and was the genesis of almost all the major ideas people associate with White Wolf.

In Vampire: the Masquerade, the players assume the role of vampires, immortal beings cursed with an unquenchable thirst for blood and vulnerability to sunlight – creatures forever bound to their inner Beast (the animal urges of hunger, fear and rage). It is a game of personal horror, as the characters are continually forced to walk a moral tightrope between their need to survive and the horrific means by which they ensure it.

What is the setting of this Chronicle?

The chronicle centers around a coterie of young fledglings a few months after their Embrace. It is set in the large metropolis of New York City, New York in the United States of America, where many supernatural creatures lurk and lay dormant in the dread of night. Your characters should have been embraced within the last couple of months to a year – with backstories to justify their traits and talents. The plot of the story will focus on major elements and themes such as: The loss of innocence, the retention of humanity, social subterfuge, dangerous curiosity, and the struggle for power and dominance.

What do I need in order to play?

I, as the Storyteller, have the Vampire: the Masquerade V5 Core Rulebook and other supplements as PDF’s to build and provide a fully fleshed-out world for you all. I will provide character sheets and teach any new players the rules and how to construct a character in compliance with house rules that I will establish during session zero – a session where we all sit down, talk about what we wish to get out of this experience, what sort of stories you all would be interested in participating in outside of the main plot, create our characters, and finalize the relationships that those characters possess.

What I request from you, the player, is a willingness to explore boundaries and eagerness to develop a fairly well-crafted story with your peers. This game is essentially a creative writing exercise through roleplay and is heavily based on relationships with the world, non-player characters, and the players themselves. To also possess an aspiration and goal to create and experience drama through your characters and the situations you put yourselves into – as Mary Sue and perfect hero type characters do not survive well in the World of Darkness and, well frankly, they’re just boring – and the confidence to act and project yourself through the world will assist immensely as well. You should be comfortable roleplaying vocally, as your voice will personify your character – which also colloquially means that you have to possess a microphone.

A Roll-20 account is also important, as that is the medium through which we will communicate. Discord is also required.

Anything else I should know?

If you are interested in joining the Chronicle, reply to this thread and maybe even tell me a bit about yourself: Your experiences with tabletop roleplay, experiences with the Chronicle of Darkness or World of Darkness in general (this includes games such as Vampire: The Masquerade / Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: the Apocalypse / Werewolf: the Forsaken, Mage: the Ascension / Mage: the Awakening, etc). Are you new to the World of Darkness? What interested you about the setting? What do you hope to gain from this? Other questions are also welcome, though you only need reply to the thread showing interest – these questions are to help me get a better grasp of my players and to tailor the story for your amusement, though not required if you don’t feel comfortable sharing. I will also need your steam account to send a friend request as to invite you to the discord server.

I will only take a maximum of four to five player characters for the Chronicle. I will most likely be running different chronicles in the future – so there will be plenty of opportunities to join in!

Sessions, in general, should be around two to three hours. A time will be discussed and deliberated in session zero, which should only be an hour on average. My Timezone is -5:00 GMT, which is Eastern Standard Time. I will do my best to mediate and decide on a time that fits everyone, though we all have lives – including me.

Lastly, have fun! I will do my upmost best to ensure that you are enjoying yourself in the chronicle, if you aren’t then that is a major failing on my part to which I only plead for forgiveness and an opportunity to attempt to make amends.

If you have any further questions, please detail them below in your response! I will try to get back to you as fast as I can! Thank you for reading and taking an interest in my proposition! I hope you and I can be able to craft wonderful stories together! That is, if you're interested!

-Essence​

 

[Tzula]

also yeah I'd love to join in btw. . .