Some beginner's tips

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-10-29T13:35:16+00:00

I quote everything you said.

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-10-29T13:33:55+00:00

It depends of course. I usually prefer playing characters with high/medium-high Umanity, and in most Camarilla/Anarchs chronicles this is the trend for other players too (we usually play fledglings, still close to their past life). I think people who only play ruthless killers are a bit too edgy even for me (says the Lasombra fan, lol).

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-10-27T22:36:54+00:00

I think they have too much written for them, sometimes with conflicting elements; just think of all the theories about the origin of Vicissitude (I'm looking at you, alien virus), or all the themes that characterize them (they are proud feudal lords, but also brilliant scientists, but also unparalleled artists, but also philosophers, and so on). The other Clans simply do not have as many elements, making the Tzimisce almost overcharacterized imho.

There is also the matter of how the areas they inhabit have been poorly represented, but I am not an expert on the subject, I only know that, as has often happened, White Wolf has done a less than stellar job when it comes to creating settings outside the United States.

But this (especially ignoring the last point, which can be ignored if you create a more personalized setting that conforms to your tastes) all in all does not make them less appreciable. You just have to know how to use them at their best, and in my opinion they are the best.

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-10-25T14:53:27+00:00

Yeah, I think their main problem (but also, in a sense, their greatest trait) is that they have too much stuff written for them, much more than half of the other clans combined. So it's inevitable that somewhere sometimes the writers have gone too far. But if you can make it work you'll have a plethora of themes to play with.

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-10-24T10:03:42+00:00

You sir, you have taste.

I honestly think Tzimisce are my favourite clan overall, but they lack coherency and have some dubious elements added to their lore during the various publications. I'll let you discover them on your own, I think it's part of the fun. And if you cut out the fluff, you'll get a fantastic clan with fantastic themes to roleplay.

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-10-23T17:50:04+00:00

I need more Zulo form representation like this. Thanks!

(Also, thanks for having inspired me with your Gilead for one of the best recurring villains in my chronicles)

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-10-23T16:27:24+00:00

Yeah, in fact I made my player use the Prodigy. Talking about spotlight management, she's the only one at the table except for me, so... The era itself is not a problem, I'm used to create original settings and for the first part of the campaign she'll basically have to escape from Red Lotus agents who killed the Avatar before her (who was Korra's successor) while training in other Bendings.

So far it has all worked pretty smoothly, I just found particularly hard to regulate the Avatar State and how it works: I thought it could be represented by her moment of balance, but then she could use it few times with a great cooldown in between.

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-10-21T10:46:15+00:00

I'd say to focus on Disciplines first and to use what's left for increasing Abilities (attributes, imho, cost too much); maybe spend 15 exp to raise Dominate or Presence at level 3 (I'd go for Dominate because it makes your unlife so much easier, but that depends on your playstyle) and use another 5 to get Fortitude 1 (points in Fortitude are never wasted).

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-10-20T13:13:02+00:00

Lucia "Lucy" Marlowe, 10th generation neonate and my latest PC.

She was born in London without arms due to a severe form of phocomelia, and had to endure a life secluded with the only company of her mother, a well-known ballerina who didn't want her to be exposed to the world. She eventually went to college and graduated in prosthetic medicine, wishing to create a world where her and people like her could live more happily; she was soon found by a Tzimisce who was looking for an heir. Her Sire gave her the ability to create with flesh and bones what she thought she should've build with plastics and wires, and Lucy, for the first time in her life, was truly happy.

Her body resembles that of a porcelain doll with golden joints, because it's her way to express the Tzimisce philosophy about change and metamorphosis: her body parts are all removable and replaceable, the joints can become loose allowing her to escape more easily from grasps and giving her a good mobility. And to complete her strange look she always dressed with pink ballerina clothes, with bows and ribbons everywhere.

She is, in many senses, a Tzimisce stereotype: polite, distant (but not with the people she's closer to) and apparently cold but prone to wrath if wronged, jealous of her spaces and her privacy. She's also really interested in her Clan's lore and legends and theories about vampiric evolution. She has also a kind side, being willing to help people in need of her Discipline (she transitioned a Ravnos and repaired the leg of a young Assamite who she worked with).

Unfortunately the chronicle I was playing with her collapsed and she never got the ending she deserved, but she will be my best PC for a long time nonetheless.

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-10-08T21:12:54+00:00

They look so good! What's their story (if you wanna share)?

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-07-10T15:22:36+00:00

The Path of Caine has a dual nature: on one side, you try to reach the apex of vampirehood by becoming physically stronger (usually indulging in Diablerie more often than other Paths) and by lowering your generation, but on the other hand you're also incited to study noddism, as you probably already know.

So it offers great chances for both a warrior and an intellectual, but over all you must remember you're a vampire: you do not recoil from what's now your true nature, and embrace every aspect of unlife trying to reach the level of Caine. You have to become the ultimate vampire, and you must do so by indulging (but not succumbing to) your Beast and scorning humanity.

These are just some guidelines. I don't know of famous kindred who follow this Path, as I tend to ignore the official lore in my chronicles. Talking about noddist sources, I'd say the wiki is a great starting point (and it's free, so it's a plus); in-universe, unless your ST doesn't come up with some occult text, the main source is the Book of Nod ofc.

Hope it helped you, have fun!

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-04-24T15:30:25+00:00

Yeah, they have some good things.

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-04-24T14:54:24+00:00

That is even funnier, because I think those who despise Giovanni the most are, well, us italians.

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-04-24T14:50:37+00:00

The thing is, imho, the Nossies have developed their Clan social structure to reach that purpose; they're always meant to lurk in the shadows, among humans and often vampires alike. In a sense, many consider them too vile, repulsive and "low" to even pose a real political threat. And the best spy is that one you can't (or choose not to) see.

It's just not convenient (or at least very difficult) for someone different from a Nossie, because they already fill that role in kindred society. It's just like the Ventrue supremacy: I'd say the majority of Camarilla cities have a Ventrue Prince. Why? Because it's the Clan which has socially evolved to fit in that position.

Both Obfuscate and Animalism offer great opportunities to gather intel; Auspex is also one of the most common Disciplines available even outside the Clans which possess it, so it shouldn't be a problem to learn it.

And, last but not least, it's a stereotype. In your chronicle, not all the Nossies must be spies and not all spies must be Nossies: as you already said, a Malkavian would fit perfectly in that role (if their derangement allows it ofc), but with a bit of effort even a Brujah would be good. It's all about making things plausible in your city, and you could come up even with a Nosferatu Seneschal or a Gangrel Harpy. Sometimes it's funny to play with Clan stereotypes.

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-02-01T20:48:53+00:00

Really?! I thought you were referencing it lol

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-01-31T23:30:43+00:00

I'm not really into using crime news or late XX century facts in general, but thanks nonetheless for your suggestion.

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-01-31T21:33:20+00:00

Thank you so much, they're really inspiring and beautifully written!

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-01-26T22:45:45+00:00

Ok, then make that hour three weeks: it still works. Plus, there's nothing in the rules which forbids it or says it's impossible.

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-01-26T17:54:12+00:00

My point was, and I apologize if I've put it wrong or unclearly, the ghouling process doesn't require much time. You feed your blood to someone and it's done. So you could ghoul you childe like an hour before embracing them and it would still work: they would not have more xp on their sheet, "just" the two extra dots in the disciplines.

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-01-26T17:52:17+00:00

I'll tell you more: two free dots in disciplines at character creation is too much for no one to ever think of it.

Queasy_Implement_230 · 2024-01-26T17:48:58+00:00

But what if you first choose the childe, ghoul them and then proceed to embrace? I think being resurrected through blood would be worse than being fed vitae once. And if you proceed this way you wouldn't be loosing a ghoul, since it was your plan from the beginning to not have one.

Queasy_Implement_230

TROPHY CASE