Groundwork for Vampire Grim RPG

[Brass]

A bunch of people expressed interest in the idea of starting up a Vampire the Masquerade game with Grim Members. I'm really excited about the idea, as are others (https://thegrim.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6521) - so I'm going to work on getting preliminary work out of the way to see if we can make this happen.

The Big To-Do List:

1.) We need to find out how many people would like to play this Vampire RPG together. Ideally a committed group size of 3-6 is best, but more than that could be hard to keep up with. Not impossible, just very difficult. This will also give me an idea of how many preludes (mini-stories) we can do with players to set them up.

2.) We need to find out what day(s) would be best for those who want to play.

3.) Determine how we can set this up online using Mumble and other programs. (I have some ideas, but open to many more). I could really use help in finding someone who's really good with the technical stuff to help get things situated.

4.) Decide on a chronicle concept (I have some ideas I'll get into later on here...) that everyone can agree on. Story is everything in a game like this.

5.) Find a Storyteller (and if there's a huge bunch of people, maybe a ST Assist or two) up to the task of keeping this together without getting overwhelmed. [I think I can be up to it if things don't get too out of hand, I do have experience and time]

6.) Get the information out there to people. We've already got a bunch of books available through the link above. I have literally all the books and if given a method, I'll share them all with the Grim.

[Brass]

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Chronicle Idea - The 'Night School' Program
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Behind the bustle of normal activity, the jobs you work, the cars you drive, the stores you shop at, the TV News, Cell Phones, Internet, and all modern contrivances that mark the world as you know it to be - few suspect that underneath it is the true face of our so-called reality. In the darkened alleys where shadows claim dominion; in the storm drains you walk past and catch fleeting glimpses of movement... in the run down hovels, the darkened and neglected patches of wilderness that skirt civilization, the night clubs, dives, and slums... and even in the dark corners of seemingly normal homes, there lies the fervor of a million afterdark spectacles to which the populace seems blissfully unaware. We are not alone. We have never been alone.

But you know that now, don't you? There are no few of us that have seen things they cannot explain. In this world of darkness, there are many who have come to discover a truth that doesn't go away- and with the horror of revelation, billions of unanswered new questions this 'real' world raises. Once the door is passed, you can never go back.

You were one such unfortunate (or fortunate, depending on your current point of view). The night a cold stranger took you, like a scene from a bad monster movie, took your blood and condemned you by giving it back - embracing you; bringing you screaming into a new world of waking nightmares where once normalcy reigned supreme. You became a Child of Caine; a Cainite. A 'Kindred'; damned to walk the night in pursuit of living blood. An immortal, blood sucking Vampire.

I bet you didn't want to believe that. Good. That means the Masquerade is doing its job. Sorry to break it to you, but the nightlife sucks.

But don't worry yourself about trying to put the pieces back together. Nothing will be the same; everything is changed despite looking the same. The layers are peeled back and the faces behind the curtain stare right through you. You can never go back to the way things were, even if you wish you could. Even if you could pretend for however long until the thirst takes you.

Your 'life'; as it once was, is over, and the night calls you to something new.

And what will you do? What will you make of yourself? And what will happen as a result? Will you become that monster you are encouraged even now to be, deep inside yourself? That place where the beast rattles in its cage threatening to overtake your sanity, forcing you do unspeakable things with an alien hunger?

Or perhaps you'll lock into step - become the disposable tool of monstrous Elders out there that have been playing the game longer. Those ancient monsters that feud endlessly in a selfish and self destructive war for control of our world?

Or maybe, just maybe, you could instead aspire to make something of yourself and your changed existence. Take your nature and fate into your own hands in defiance of those Elders. Perhaps you're interested in shining a light into the darkness, stepping boldly forth to face it? Knowledge is the most ancient weapon against the unknown, and one of the finest currencies among the damned. Do you chose to fight for that freedom, to avoid the traps and fetters of ageless monsters that seek to devour and dominate you, perhaps to even become something of power yourself? Do you dare? CAN you?

I welcome you to my Night School. You might find yourself among similar company.

We've been here for a while, and we're ready to help you. That is, if you're willing to work with us in return. We work together, honoring a few simple rules of conduct. As equals, we work together in defiance of the long night and in the shadow of humanity. Ask, and we can offer you protection and insight into the confusion. Work with us, and we can teach you the ways of the afterdark and of the many things that share the night with us. We can train you - educate you in the use of the new gifts granted from your undead rebirth and the cursed blood of Caine. We can give you resources to work with - currency to support your masquerade, a haven to sleep out the hated light of day, and a bite to drink when you so sorely need it.

All we ask is for your loyalty, your determination, and to have an open mind.

[Brass]

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Tools
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MapTool (and stuff)
I'm poking around right now at the MapTool that Anaie suggested [http://www.rptools.net/index.php?page=maptool-faq]

It is making my head hurt, but at least it isn't as complicated as trying some of the approaches I have in the past. I've literally made miniatures/boards for my games before due to having copious amounts of time and no real budget. Of course, we don't have that luxury being so long distance from each other.

The downside is that most of these MapTools (and the nifty little side tools - loving the dice tool) are designed more for D20 stuff. They have some WoD stuff, but it's all 'new' WoD. To which I say 'bleh'. The Initiative Tool might not work for our interests, and the Character Sheet tool doesn't have anything like the values.

We might need to do some scoping around, or even modifying the program, to support oWoD rules and character sheets. Maybe there are other tools out there. I'm certainly open to ideas or suggestions how we can manipulate them.

Mumble
I figure we'll use the Tabletop section of mumble. Not too much trouble. It's less atmospheric than everyone gathered around a dark room, but hey. Maybe can have some fun with sound effects on there for certain things.

Email
One of the neat ideas I've had is for each player to setup 'character' emails. It'd be useful for sending individual messages or other nifty 'under the table' information or assignments. That sort of thing. When the politics and intrigue get really hot, this'd be a handy way to get info around behind other character's backs. Also, opportunities for subplots. That could work.

Social Media
I'm sorry, but I won't touch Facebook. I won't touch Myspace, or any of that stuff. Weird though it is, I'm sure, I seriously won't compromise that for this game. Even aside of that, from an in-character stand point, the Masquerade isn't so easily reinforced by twittering your latest feed (literally...) or getting your photo tagged at Elysium. Kindred, with very few exceptions, don't like too much media exposure - particularly the elder ones who were supposed to have died lifetimes ago. That could be a breach of masquerade. I'd imagine it'd be kind of counter-intuitive, except for maybe young Toreador striving for attention. Even then, not too bright.

Forums
I can see a majority of this game taking place in forum exchanges, but that can get cluster-fuckey when many people are in the same spot trying to RP the same moment. Forum RPing isn't for everyone. It might not be too bad for in-between meets stuff, but I'm hoping for another alternative to it.

Of course, using the Forum to get this stuff setup is a different story. As you can plainly see. Heh.

[Aureilya]

Thanks for taking the lead on this, Brass. :) You were the first person I thought of since you seem to enjoy writing long and detailed posts, which is excellent for this sort of thing. I had a feeling that if it was something that interested you, you could probably write up some kick ass settings/scenarios.


I'm really not sure what day I could actually commit to this.. my time is spread pretty thin as it is, which is why I was hoping for a Forum setting. I never really considered tabletop groups as being very conducive to true RP. I have awesome memories of tabletop, but it was more like a bunch of friends sitting around and laughing/making jokes/getting drunk as we played some game. Trying to RP in voice was nothing but awkward. That's why I love forum/chatroom/WoW Rp because it allows me more time to think and put together my posts. (I'm also kind of put off by the idea of having to download weird programs/java stuff onto my computer or having to figure that out. I just want to write!) ;)

I'll keep an eye on this, cause your ideas sound like a lot of fun! If you are able to swing some forum based RP I'm all in... I just don't know that I have the time to dedicate to scheduled sessions over mumble.

[Duskheron]

I'm interested, I'm just not sure what days I could commit to it. Maybe Wednesday or Sunday.

[Brass]

Update

So far, Wednesday is looking to be really good for people. I know Tekk and I don't have much going on that day, also Bart mentioned that'd be a good day for him.

The days I normally have free the most are Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. These are days I'm not doing Pvp or LFR/Raid stuff with the Grim.

Also, heh... thanks. I think my long posts are probably pedantic and get boring quick. Once things hit stride in the game, players really write the story. My job becomes less exposition/setup and more connecting the dots and throwing curve balls. These games really take on a life (unlife?) of their own. The hardest part getting the momentum in starting it up.

As for doing things over the forum - that can work I think, I just find it a bit messy sometimes. I'm still new to the idea of Forum RP (I think I've only done it once on here, on Bart's 'what it means to be grim' post) and find that it's kind of hard to keep some things coherent over time. Maybe I'm thinking it to death; I do tend to do that.

Peeps like Abric and the others used to do just this kind of RP on some AOL forums from what I hear, but I've never done anything much like that. They might be helpful in getting such a thing setup here. I can do the writing and the STing, but the forum moderation stuff is completely greek to me.

The cool thing about using the forums is it's fun to read over later. Just checking over some of the stories and things on this site (and the Grim's old website, the stories over the years the Grim's been around) are a great example of that. I'm -still- reading through a lot of those when I have the time.

When my group used to do our RP, it wasn't always just sitting in a room talking like a D&D game. Sure, we did that a lot - what with all the props and stuff. Made it easy to get the atmosphere going with music and lighting. Still, sometimes we'd do LARP 'field trips'. My friends also got some airsoft stuff in, but I lost all the rules we came up with for that - and besides, us being so long distance it wouldn't matter much anyway. Mumble and other tools could help set the mood if used correctly.

The map tool thing I've been poking at does have a lot of potential, it's just got so many buttons and things. Also, I'm completely crap as an artist - so making .png backdrops and stuff wouldn't be something I'd be able to do. Maybe I'll get lucky and dig up somebody on their forums that has some assets for oWoD stuff.

Interesting thing... several of my RL friends heard about this and they're now bugging me about it. Some of them don't even play wow, or left it.

[Duskbane]

I am interested, wed, sat, sun are my best days look foward to this. IF i can do this can my participation wait till after the may meeting?

[Brass]

Update: April 28th, 2012
I've been pretty distracted these last two weeks on account of everything from Diablo 3 Free Weekend to kitchen knives in the most unexpected places. I'm just wanting to let those interested in the game know what's going on with the ideas here.

Generally, I've been toying here and there with many programs which help make the job of Storytelling easier, but I'm still kind of absent on how they might be useful in a Forum or Mumble environment. In short, there's a huge amount of record keeping and planning involved here and I've been concerned that I could get overwhelmed.

If this game happens, I'd like it to be done right and be fun. Given everything going on here soon and the fact that I'm inexperienced with doing this stuff over the internet (I'm used to meeting face to face and doing this sort of thing, and work out things that way), it is getting a bit confusing to find a good starting point - even if the plot was there (I have one, that needs to be retooled to whatever city the group decides on - though Cincinnati would be excellent for it) and everything was in order. As Abric and others mentioned, the setup for a WoD game takes way longer (and more thought) than a D&D dungeoncrawl.

Then there are the other logistics of my invested time that complicate matters. Got a lot on my plate to balance this with.

Pillagers PvP Team has now been dissolved into Siegebreakers - which raids Sun and Weds - my schedule's changed to match it. Wednesday now might not be the best day to do this game. I missed last week due to a combination of court and confusion over times. Next time, I won't let people down.

I still raid with Annihilators until the end of May, which is when we dissolve for this expansion. Even afterward, I'm going to be making sure Brass is going to be as prepared as possible to join the Tank selection for Mists. Part of that means getting used to the Mists changes, so I'll be in beta fairly often getting used to the tweaks and things. When Mists comes out, I'll be getting to 90 and getting ready to raid with the beta knowledge.

Also, It's 17 days until Diablo 3 comes out - so even if we do manage to get this going sometime in the next week or so, Diablo 3 is going to come right along and take up more of many people's precious time. Diablo 3 is addictive as hell. No pun intended. Consider also that time spent in Diablo 3 can, at times, equal money in the form of drops sold on the Real Money AH. I like money and really need it right now.

Then there's life, which for me is often random and hectic. I schedule as though I had a job - so that when I do finally get one, it'll be minimally impactful. But then, I could always get one that requires overtime.

So as much as I'd like to do a Vampire game, it's looking like the best option would be what was suggested before on that other forum - joining up with an already existing LA Game; 'City of Angels'

http://www.wodcityofangels.com/news.php

If nothing else, until more time opens up, it'd get people a taste of what the game can be like if we did get it going down the line at some point. Also some insight into what the MMO might be like.

I still haven't had the chance to sign up on there and give it a shot, but I intend to. Though, just with what I know as a player who's read way too much, the LA environment in the OWoD Universe is a very, very, VERY volatile place with every afterdark critter having a good excuse to be there. Lots of room for creativity! But lots of horrors, too. It's a warzone.

So I'll still be thinking on this game as a bit of a side hobby, but I don't think any time soon I'll be able to effectively get the game going. But if things change, or I find tools that make a lot of this even easier (which I still look for), I'll still be on here.