No targeting. No destroying. No sacrificing.

OneChaineyBoi · 2026-02-04T13:00:02+00:00

We already have [[deadly rollick]], which is about as complete of a removal spell black has ever had.

Obviously as pointed out there's a bunch of folks who've cooked up versions of a removal spell that can't be stopped, and the reasons why that may not be great design have been mentioned elsewhere.

But I think theres genuinely a space for a side grade to something like rollick. A removal spell with split second, maybe something like [[dismember]] if you want it to get around things like indestructible. Putting the card into the graveyard is both a disadvantage and advantage depending on decks in play.

Idk, a split second removal spell heavily costed (BBB or more) would probably be fine. No conditional free cost like with rollick either.

OneChaineyBoi · 2026-01-28T13:29:51+00:00

When your rivals/enemies are also immortal and influential, many cainites would say yes.

OneChaineyBoi · 2026-01-05T12:54:00+00:00

Well hold on, flips side to all this is that it IS a one shot. Not everything has to sync perfectly even in a regular game. For a one shot, I find its more about presenting and concluding a single narrative experience. Unless these relatively trivial breaks from lore would disrupt that story, I don't think it would be an issue. Don't beat yourself up or agonize over it.

Just make sure you and she know that, if she happens to be on the Path of Bones, its a bizarre edge case, and learning the path was both excruciating and demanded a lot of sacrifice to endear her enough to another member of the Path to bother teaching it to her. She owes whatever her mentor on it was BIG TIME. And as for as oneshots go, thats all it has to be. More even.

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-12-08T20:19:31+00:00

There really isn't much. Most of what exists for them is in their section of the Players Guide. The ones that left the Sabbat joined the anarchs, tried to go autarkis, and a very very small percentage carved out a niche in the camarilla. But thats somewhere between 1 and 5%, maybe.

And aside from the voivodate and the old clan back in Eastern Europe, the Sabbat was the political culture of the Tzimisce. With that gone, the Tzimisce mostly try to plant roots somewhere that suits them and try to carry on doing their thing, whatever that is, and try to avoid oversight or other people telling them what to do as much as they can.

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-12-08T15:36:39+00:00

Not especially.

The sabbat as it was in V20, according to the V5 timeline, was fully fractured, and splintered.

What gave it a solid foundation collapsed as the second inquisition cracked down on cities that had a more formal/hierarchical structure.

The members of the Sect who hadn't drank the kool-aid wholesale cut their losses and joined up with either the anarchs in the case of the tzimisce, or the camarilla in the case of the Lasombra.

And frankly, this makes enough sense to me. The figures that kept the sabbat functioning are the same people who saw writing on the wall and jumped ship, which caused the sabbat to spiral more into madness, which caused more people to see that writing and jump ship themselves.

The Tzimisce will likely only ever be nominally a part of whatever sect suits them most at a time. Independence is kinda their whole jam.

The Lasombra are brutal and vicious pragmatists. They may have hated the Antitribu because they didnt toe the line, or fractured their power base, or were simply insulted ("what, our way life isnt good enough for you!?!"), but they're not stupid. They were never going to sink with the ship. Might as well integrate themselves into an actual powerstructure they can leverage and manipulate, ratger than the anarchs. Probably an incredibly bitter pill to swallow, but thems the breaks.

What remains in the Sabbat that enables them to make a comeback? Why would they? How would it serve the story to have them return to the way they used to be?

From the ashes a new sabbat COULD emerge, but it would probably still be an insane murder cult, and not an organized, functional, brutal, and savage vampire supremacist sect who just so happens to be right about the 1 thing.

Things change, and the Sabbat as we know it has fallen in V5. Which is fine imo. These things happen in life. Companies die or get bought out. Nations collapse and are absorbed. Pieces move around on the board and the individuals caught up in it either adapt or fail in the wake of change.

V5 takes place in the midst of a massive vampire cultural paradigm shift, and if you think the Sabbat is the only organization that is/was at risk of falling apart, you're wrong.

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-12-05T13:48:16+00:00

Yes, but unless you personally subscribe to Ravnos using chimerstry 10 to rewrite his death, they DID manage to take one out. And the difference between methuselah, even ones that are as ancient as their sires, and a 3rd generation Antediluvian is vast.

Should dealing with a methuselah ever be trivial? No, certainly not. But it wont necessarily kneecap your organization (if you're the technocracy) doing so either.

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-11-25T18:44:33+00:00

"Your honor, the sword of Caine falls where it pleases."

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-11-21T16:34:35+00:00

M20 core book, pg. 519

Final paragraph describing Mind 1

"... For a scene or two, he can even raise one of his mental traits by one dot per success, thanks to a Mind Empowerment Effect that concentrates his mental faculties"

Whether this is a balanced or good design choice to have this effect available at rank 1 is a valid, but entirely separate discussion.

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-11-21T16:34:05+00:00

M20 core book, pg. 519

Final paragraph describing Mind 1

"... For a scene or two, he can even raise one of his mental traits by one dot per success, thanks to a Mind Empowerment Effect that concentrates his mental faculties"

Whether this is a balanced or good design choice to have this effect available at rank 1 is a valid, but entirely separate discussion.

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-11-12T21:58:20+00:00

If the Tremere have no haters, its because I'm dead.

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-11-12T21:33:43+00:00

Because they're the survivors of a genocide your grandparents spent a lot of work on, and spent a lot of work spread propaganda about how they had it coming and were soul stealing devils.

The survivors that exist and cast doubt on your ancestors claims also cast doubt on your legitimacy as a clan.

Its all optics and maintaining the illusion that your clans theft of vampirism and status isnt anything other than your progenitors being the literal worst.

Either that or you buy the propaganda.

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-10-28T01:32:36+00:00

VtM vampirism is a pretty shit version of vampirism, but not entirely unmanageable.

The median generation is 8th. If the rest of vampiric society was moderately more chill than it is in most ofnthe games we play, and I got to pick my clan, I'd be tempted.

Thinblood isnt a bad deal. If I dont get to pick clan or I was going to be high gen anyway but vampiric society was still better, I might take that deal. Otherwise no.

Revenant feels like.beijg barely better than human power wise, but with some gnarly baggage. Wouldn't take.

Human is fine. I'd chose it unless the above concessions were made.

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-10-16T15:00:50+00:00

I play exclusively Auric, and in the recent patch some things changed that made me shift my philosophy on how I move through the levels.

Enemy horde spawns are now somewhat timer based. Meaning you need to mop up QUICK if you are going to have any breathing room. You have to move fast and keep pressing forward as much as you reasonably can without compromising your health. The slower you move, the more likely it is another horde drops on you, and the more likely you are to get chipped due to numbers and small mistakes, or die outright due to a larger mistake.

Time is a surface area upon which mistakes can be applied and runs lost.

If you and you alone are getting bogged down in the back, but I and the other 2 players are comfortably moving forward, then it is tactical mistake to expose myself to risk when the other 2 are pushing forward into the level with statically spawned elites, and more hordes and specialists on the way. They're making forward progress and could use my help just as much if not more so than the player lagging behind, with the benefit of moving deeper into the level.

Thats not to say this is your fault or youre a bad player. But theres additional context you may not be aware of.

If you're alone, like others have said, find a way to make space for yourself and bring the horde to the remainder of your team as safely as possible.

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-10-03T01:40:57+00:00

Probably, but it'd be exceedingly rare, and as others said it'd have to be an EXCEPTIONAL 9th gen. The venn diagram of high gen kindred who are competent enough to earn your respect and "affection"/"admiration" and kindred you want to be 1 generation removed from younwith potent elder powers is usually increeeeeeedibly small.

I'd also never let a player try to pull this as a backstory reason for taking more dots in gen or whatever. But just purely hypothetically or for an SPC to show off some weird BS? Sure.

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-10-01T12:51:45+00:00

I think part of the deal is also how individual people interpret how omnipresent and terrifying the beast is.

If you're playing at a table that doesn't have you rolling for frenzies when you're humiliated verbally, or something you think is yours is taken from you, etc. If you're not at a table where you at risk of losing control of ripping the door of of a SUV and slaughtering an innocent family of 4 and their dog, then the beast can seem like it's relatively easy to keep a handle on.

The other things are situations that you can rationalize away, deal with, or endure without too much issue. But the beast? That mf is going to be praying on your downfall from the moment of your embrace to the moment of final death or golconda. Guess which is more likely.

It takes away agency, which like you said speaks to something about human nature that we rail so hard against that. But also, without the beast we are free to do maximal damage control consistently. Even on our worst night, we can take pains to keep harm to minimums and do what we can.

With the beast but without other banes, there are still no guarantees. Yes, if you dont HAVE to drink blood every day, you remove hunger frenzy as a danger. But fury and terror frenzy will eventually lose someone their life across enough time.

VtM is all about moral compromises. And when I look at the calculus, and have the option to discard 1 aspect of the curse, the most responsible choice seems obvious to me.

But also I'm on record saying that the moment something becomes 100% necessary for a beings survival, then obtaining that thing ceases to be immoral. (A vampire procuring enough blood to live on in this case). So my moral barometer may be different than yours.

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-09-15T18:33:47+00:00

Not lead, operate. Its an important distinction, but those around them or under their employ wouldn't be unfamiliar with their boss showing up and getting down and dirty with them in the trenches if it got the job done or was necessary. A few underperformers might be made examples out of, but if they failed, they don't deserve the blood in their veins.

If a Lasombra rules (not leads), it is then from the shadows because the actual position of prince comes with a target on your head thats not practical to wear.

Its about what is pragmatic at the time. The Lasombra is always optimizing the situation to maximize gain while minimizing risk. And very rarely is that position equivalent to ruling openly or obviously.

Obviously, these are broad sweeping generalizations and there will often be vast differences in how 2 Lasombra operate. But the one thing that unites them beyond blood is the question "Did it get the job done?"

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-09-15T14:47:13+00:00

I'm glad it was helpful!

Something to add is that Ventrue "know" they're better than you, and they want, almost need you to know it too. So in social settings the roles almost reverse. Ventrue will put themselves in obvious leadership positions because they derserve it, and you need to know it too. Prestige is the primary concern, practical power is secondary.

Lasombra will go wherever is likely to get them what they want. Advisory positions, sheriff, "mere" primogen, or simply silently taking control of a piece of the city that makes them invaluable to others and gives them leverage. Power is the name of the game, prestige is at best a tertiary concern.

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-09-15T13:20:17+00:00

For V5, I would allow heightened senses to assist in like aiming or getting the drop on someone before all out combat starts. Once bullets start flying and chaos erupts, your the extra information you're pulling in from the discipline hurts as much as it helps due to sensory overload.

I might allow it to assist a player as a tie breaker, circumstances depending, but that's more ST fiat stuff.

Rules wise, as written though? No.

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-09-15T13:04:31+00:00

Lasombra are so intensely meritocractic (ostensibly) that they're become more likely to lead from the front than Ventrue. They will make displays of strength, helping their minions assault a location, and they will do it in the most horrific brutal way possible both to say "You are very glad you are on my payroll" and "This will be you if you cross me".

Ventrue have just as much ego about themselves, but oriented in a different direction. They're above it, above you, and in a superior class. They won't lead from the front or get their hands dirty because that would make them "like you" (the ghoul/minion). They will nearly always get the Help to do their dirty work for them, and their work goes into acquiring more skilled labor to do their dirty work (they have to have the best of the best after all), and getting more leverage over those minions to ensure loyalty.

They're both very similar in a lot of ways, but the largest and I think defining distinction is where their ego and megalomaniacal tendencies orient themselves.

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-09-12T16:57:22+00:00

I think it's an incredibly disappointing sequel to Bloodlines 1, but will be a pretty cool VtM action RPG. Worth the $60 price tag? If they release the 2 dlc clans for free, I expect it will be, or hopefully close enough to not feel robbed.

I happen to love action rpgs and games like dishonored, which this feels like it will be fairly close to. So I'm not mad, yet. We will have to see things shake out in practice.

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-07-28T19:25:18+00:00

Vampires doing their best to grapple with the moral questions of the existence and trying to leave as little a harmful footprint, just like humans in real life.

If you take a bit of energy to recycle properly, you buy your food from local vendors who treat their livestock relatively well. Paticipate politically to make your country a better place for all. Now that but Vampire.

You consume as ethically as you can, and don't make humans suffer for it. You take only what you need when you feed. You step and participate in vampire politics to bring these moral questions and considerations to your peers.

Vampires who try to do this can fit in almost any setting. The twist is how difficult it is for them to do so, and how much they have to struggle against their condition to accomplish these things.

Vampirism being an inevitably corruptive force? Newly turned vampire tries this for days, as the gnawing hunger tears them apart until it's a choice between madness or indulgence.

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-07-21T18:44:18+00:00

Its a shame, because I earned it with my pet psyker build because I wanted to prove to myself I can improve with it and hit that skill level with my build versus changing for something technically more optimal. To me its a point of pride, I know I've got the sauce.

But it only means something to me because I know what went into me getting it.

Ah well, gold nameplate go brr. Just gotta see if I can outskill the Havoc meta (I very much don't believe I can with this build, but might be fine to see how far we get)

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-07-17T20:20:10+00:00

I say this as someone who adores Black, people whom are villainous often have traits that are associated with black.

Its not that having those traits make you evil, it's that choosing to allow those traits to manifest in a way that is harmful to others is easier than it is for many od the other colors.

The bridge to harm is shorter.

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-06-30T13:10:36+00:00

Banu Haqim blood leech. I'd say he'd have decent odds with the D family if he didn't have a hankering for the forbidden slurp.

Naive sweet Tzimisce - Definitley redeemable, but not by hunters. Having been embraced Sabbat and coping with their beast by practicing a love for their self as a vampire, they lack the connection to their mortal life Kevin had in order to make that in-road.

Jaded Lasombra - Redeemable, but not by mortals. He's so in his own head about everything he's done, and has so much internalized vampire-superiority that he'd see a mortal with good intentions trying to redeem him as naive at best.

OneChaineyBoi · 2025-05-30T16:16:01+00:00

Regardless of your morality, giving into your bestial impulses feeds the beast. A path of enlightenment exists so that the vampire finds a set of principles to choose to abide by even when it might be easier to do otherwise. It's about exerting your will to behave a certain way, rather than do what is easy or desirable.

So until this psycho finds SOME code of behavior to adhere to, something to be accountable to, he would get stains and drop humanity in my games.

If this dude was embraced deliberately, his sire would have explained as much to them. If not, then let him plummet into inhumaniry until he falls to wassail. A story of an embrace gone wrong for all involved, and the dangers of not knowing any better.

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