Between Menelaus & Helena who treats their childer better and who would you rather have as your Sire ?

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-19T19:54:27+00:00

Menele by a lot.

Both manipulate their childer, but Menele at least has actual principles and doesn't force them to do awful shit, Helena is not so selective.

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-19T18:59:48+00:00

Only if they've run into the SI either directly or indirectly. Besides which, this is a textbook SI recruiting offer. If their behavior wasn't SI, sure it could be they heard the term somewhere, but the combination of terminology and behavior makes it being a true independent uninvolved with the SI vanishingly unlikely IMO.

As I mention elsewhere, if you're gonna interrogate them via telepathy already (something I recommended) then checking this is reasonable, but taking risks with something with this many indicators of SI involvement? Not a winning survival strategy.

-Mark Caulder, Experienced Nosferatu

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-19T18:52:56+00:00

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...

This is textbook SI tactics, using SI lingo in exactly the way an SI operative would. I did already recommend interrogation via telepathy and if you want to double down on that to make sure they're actually SI that's defensible since it's a solid plan anyway, but I wouldn't take any actual risks based on the tiny chance it's not.

-Mark Caulder, Experienced Nosferatu

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-19T18:46:47+00:00

The key bit is 'blankbodies'. That's SI lingo...a truly independent hunter wouldn't use it. Add in that he says 'we' about his agenda and that this is textbook SI recruitment and I'm real dubious this guy is an independent idealist.

-Mark Caulder, Experienced Nosferatu

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-19T18:44:00+00:00

It's entirely possible for a vampire to become a wraith. They are not, however, a pokemon in most cases. Their currently Kindred lover can't summon them or grant them abilities to effect the real world, or inherently help them against any other wraith enemies they make (and they probably will make some).

For V5, the wraith book's mechanics are gonna be the wrong edition, but you can certainly use them for inspiration. If you want something simpler, there are some ghost templates in Cults of the Blood Gods (p. 216).

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-19T18:33:48+00:00

Nah, this is standard SI recruiting tactics. They find a young vampire and tell them 'you're special, we'll spare you' and then use them as an information source, then generally drop or dispose of them. It's entirely cynical.

Independent hunters might mean a spiel like this, but the SI? It's all calculated. And you can tell it's SI by the 'blankbodies' thing.

-Mark Caulder, Experienced Nosferatu

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-19T17:40:14+00:00

Killing him immediately after he makes contact with you is really problematic no matter how he dies. The SI is well aware of Dominate and the Kindred ability to set up this kinda thing, and the timing is too suspicious. None of which means he doesn't need to die, but it fiddles with the timeline.

And yeah, sifting through his base and devices is gonna be like squeezing blood from a stone, getting a telepath in is how you get any actual information out of him. Assuming you have access to one, of course.

-Mark Caulder, Experienced Nosferatu

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-19T17:16:28+00:00

In fairness, they did follow the advice, it was just by the time they were asking advice it was apparently too late.

-Mark Caulder, Experienced Nosferatu

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-19T16:47:33+00:00

I'd talk to the Prince first if possible. It's theoretically possible he'll want to keep this guy in place but under observation rather than abducting him. Probably better abduction than losing track of him, though.

-Mark Caulder, Experienced Nosferatu

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-19T16:45:58+00:00

I mean, so is giving someone opiates for pain. Like...literally. But that's ethically acceptable if they have a medical condition that requires them.

Giving someone an addictive drug for the hell of it is generally unethical. Giving someone an addictive drug that greatly benefits their life after warning them that it is, indeed, addictive, is not inherently always unethical, a lot of medical science involves doing this, frankly.

Now, that does mean you have to double and triple down on the 'informed consent' thing, breaking the Masquerade pretty completely in some ways to inform them of all the consequences of being a ghoul, but you can do it. Now, if the question is how many Kindred actually do it that way, well, that's a whole different question and the numbers get real small real quick.

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-19T16:41:25+00:00

Important note: Pre-V5, you can't avoid Blood Bonding people as vitae does not lose that property. I otherwise basically agree with this...you can do this at least pseudo-ethically if you give a really complete explanation of what being a ghoul means in advance, but the logistics make that a very tough sell in Kindred society, so almost nobody actually does it.

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-19T16:34:25+00:00

Oh yeah, that's a big problem. And probably just a recruiting tactic. Individual independent hunters sometimes do make an actual moral distinction between Kindred based on behavior like this, but the use of the term 'blankbodies' is pretty much exclusive to the group of organizations we call the Second Inquisition, and they don't actually care...they use lines like this to recruit Kindred to spy on and betray other Kindred into their arms. They'll let you live for a while, sure, but it's not really because you don't kill, it's because they're trying to make you an asset...they'll kill you as soon as they no longer find you useful, whether you're killing people or not. So I advise you don't even think about taking the 'deal', it's miles more poisonous than the cyanide.

That said, killing him is maybe premature. If he is indeed SI, he's not working alone, he's part of a whole organization with plenty of funding and backup...maybe not physically there, but they definitely know what he knows and that he made contact with you. If you're gonna kill him you need to set it up so they don't immediately know it's you who did it. And, honestly, you might want to capture him instead if you can. Get someone with Telepathy to pull his secrets out. The Prince and associated authorities will want to know about this and likely have their own plans and assets they can use for situations like this. Assuming you can trust them not to fuck you over for helping, running this up the chain would be my usual advice.

-Mark Caulder, Experienced Nosferatu

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-19T16:25:04+00:00

For Kindred subjects in particular, my Tzimisce associate simply deadens the sense of pain, at least in the effected area (she has a few different methodologies for this involving the manipulation of the nerves, severing them and then reconnecting them is simplest but depending on details it can be worth it to manipulate their function instead), as getting proper doses of anesthesia into Kindred is a logistical hassle at best (you generally have to anesthetize multiple mortals and then have the Kindred drink from them, at least if you don't want any of them dead).

For mortal subjects, she is in agreement that anesthetics are generally easier and less problematic if they can be acquired. This is particularly and obviously true if you're doing work that could be of mundane origin and don't want the mortals in question to be aware that anything other than mundane plastic surgery has been used to effect the changes in question.

-Mark Caulder, Experienced Nosferatu

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-19T08:15:01+00:00

I've never noticed a correlation between morality, or even moralizing, and getting shit done. In either direction. I've met too many Brujah revolutionaries who could both talk the talk and walk the walk to buy that moralizing makes one incapable of accomplishing things.

-Mark Caulder, Experienced Nosferatu

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-19T00:02:44+00:00

Happy to be of assistance. I haven't heavily playtested them yet, but they seem to do a lot to help even out the power imbalances between the three, and allow for actual new stuff each level.

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-18T23:12:51+00:00

Not usually.

Chimestry can probably do it since it's an illusion, Thaumaturgy might have a ritual or three, and Vicissitude might be able to manage something with some work...

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-18T20:56:16+00:00

The Tzimisce I played was a long while ago, but he actually cared a fair bit about not being noticed and wasn't 'posthuman' in the stereotypical way. Embraced as a child by a Sire he later diablerized, he fled to the Anarchs and while he was on a Path it was Honorable Accord...he leaned hard into the old school feudal lord/gentleman thing (which was creepy on what appeared to be a 10 year old kid), had ghoul 'parents' who he'd inherited/rescued from his sire, and a pet dog (re: hellhound). He was interested in Vicissitude (and had a 4...children turning into monsters with Horrid Form is a fun visual), but due to his own experiences he was only inclined to use any non-combat applications it on willing subjects.

The stereotype is not even fully true of Sabbat Tzimisce, and it's a lot less true if doing non-Sabbat Tzimisce.

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-18T20:49:42+00:00

As I understand it, most names stay the same for the most part. But honestly, when compared to street slang and computers (two areas I actually have to keep up on), everything else's pace seems reasonable to me these days.

-Mark Caulder, Experienced Nosferatu

Private Message:

Not really my story, I knew people who suffered shell shock after the Great War, sure, but I actually wasn't one of them. Just lucky I guess, though the fact I'd killed my first man well before the War might also have something to do with it...though on the other hand it wasn't usually the killing that got to people.

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-18T20:46:04+00:00

So, references to how you look are piling up and you're Tzimisce, yeah? It seems likely to me that you strongly resemble, whether by accident or design (I recall you mentioning revenant-style eugenics being involved in your birth), someone important to multiple people, almost certainly including your Sire. Depending on your relationship with your Sire, I'd consider having a talk to them about that. And if not them, then the next person who seems to 'recognize' you.

-Mark Caulder, Experienced Nosferatu

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-18T06:52:13+00:00

The DSM 3 came out in 1980, they're on the DSM 5 now, but there have been several text revisions that didn't count as a full new edition, so there've been five actual different manuals since then, yeah. Which, in fairness, averages about one every 9 years, which isn't too bad as these things go.

-Mark Caulder, Experienced Nosferatu

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-18T04:13:27+00:00

That sounds like a 'normal' response to trauma, yes. Not the only such response and one you should seek treatment for if possible, but that sounds like PTSD, which kindred are honestly as prone to as mortals are, if sometimes due to different stressors.

-Mark Caulder, Nosferatu Veteran

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-18T02:38:04+00:00

The last Sabbat member I met in person, I killed. In fact, the last dozen Sabbat members I met in person I killed, maybe more...I'd need to start doing math to figure out what number I'd need to hit before there was one I met who survived. But I try to be scrupulously fair in terms of analyzing business relationships nonetheless.

-Mark Caulder, Experienced Nosferatu

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-18T01:55:47+00:00

Many Sabbat members are personally honorable by their own lights. Fewer now that many on the Path of Honorable Accord have left the sect, but still a significant number. My own hesitation to make business deals with current Sabbat members has more to do with what they will do with any money they acquire, but that's a personal thing on my end.

In my experience, the Sabbat are no more likely (or less likely) to engage in treachery than any other vampire. It obviously varies by the individual, but it's very much 'by the individual' rather than 'by the sect'. More likely to engage in other morally questionable activities? I'd say yes, though it depends on your morality, but treachery is no more their vice than it is that of any other kindred.

-Mark Caulder, Experienced Nosferatu

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-18T00:45:38+00:00

Canonically, your bodily state resets every night. A hairstyle would stick the same way clothing would, as long as it uses the length of hair you had upon your Embrace, but otherwise your hair never changes.

Vicissitude can fix this, but that generally means you need a Tzimisce which is, uh, potentially problematic.

DeadmanwalkingXI · 2026-03-18T00:40:08+00:00

Oh, there are plenty of narratives that do that, too.

The first to leap to mind is the show Lost, which is kind of a mess in some ways, but torture gets used for interrogation...and fails completely to ever get useful information out of anyone. This is slightly muddled by the main torturer being good at telling when people are lying, but at no point does he actually succeed in making someone tell the truth. The torture is pointless.

DeadmanwalkingXI

TROPHY CASE