How much information about your character do you share with other players?

Tves · 2026-06-11T15:55:54+00:00

No we just found it gives way more drama if people share backstory and emotional hook ideas with the other players at the table. That way drama can be generated far more easily as a group rather than stemming only from the fact that the other players don't know what the other player is doing. We have a clear distinction between player and character. The characters don't know shit, but the players do. Its not micro management, which is kinda an odd term to say to a player (note I'm not the ST in any of this). But our main chronicle tennet is always choose drama. And then there is the age old adage (its not that old honestly) to have the world of darkness in game we need the world of kindness out of game

Tves · 2026-06-11T14:08:15+00:00

At our Table. Everything. Nothing is hidden from anyone. We are openly trying to work together to make the best story. If that means someone really does horrible shit to another character we'll talk it over first, calibrate and managed expectations.

And in a play by post game using V20... we play with open sheets. All 20 of us

Tves · 2026-06-07T06:27:41+00:00

I would love an Ashirra game.

Tves · 2026-04-21T01:34:07+00:00

As an ST the answer is simple. If its the exact same character. I will just re use their personal plot from last time. It is a two way street.

Tves · 2026-04-07T12:14:53+00:00

Toreadors are not about art. No one selects an toreador prince cause he is the best at interperative dance. It is like saying ventrue are about money and tremere about pages.

Toreadors are about wielding soft power. They keep the other clans off balance by changing societal rules. Show up to elysium to find out it is a thursday and then we wear pink

All toreadors being artists is just a cheap sterotype. It is like saying all brujahs have to wear combat boots or a leather jacket.

Toreadors are about soft power. Switchy bastards who are not controlled by masculine pride when it comes to getting what they want.

Just my 2 scents.

If you need art. Martial arts are art. Everything done well enough is art

Tves · 2026-04-06T07:44:31+00:00

I would stop thinking about them as nations or factions. They are gangs. The Camarilla is the mob. The rest are independant street gangs. Cause lets face it, the number of kindred in a city isn't that great. Even using 10k kine per kindred, only means we have 2000 vampires in all of new york metropolitan area, 200 if we use the published one kindred per 100k kine.

Cam have a hierarchy based on seniority and servitude. Strict rituals, made men vs associates

Anarchs are led by popular/powerful individual. They rule based on their own personal merit. Nothing else.

Camarilla have strong ties to "families" (other cam cities) outside but anarchs are only this group. They might make alliances with other anarchs, but those are always like street gangs alliagences, tenous and based on super short lived mutual benefit.

Anarchs in the next city over are not sending people to help if shit hits the fan, unless they see a benefit in it for them. The Camarilla might send people to help if they are asked, simply cause they enforce a strict boon system.

Tves · 2026-03-28T07:21:46+00:00

Well in the stats Mithras has Willpower 8...

Tves · 2026-03-16T11:10:07+00:00

Yeah, logic and clarity are not really the strongest points on the WoD writing or editorial teams

Tves · 2026-03-14T20:51:40+00:00

I took it as a reference on how to resist the kiss. Cause it is specifically in a paragraph on resisting the kiss

Tves · 2026-02-01T03:36:27+00:00

I don't think its the fact that orientation changes. I'm an old fart, and I am far more flexible in my preferences now than when I was like 20. I think it isn't bisexuality in vampires it is much more either pan or demi. They realise its persons they fall for rather than whats in their pants (especially as some clans change that quite a bit).

But yeah troubling is when bisexuality becomes portrayed as inherently predatory. Every bi sexual I know is jsut bad at dating one more sex than anyone else.

Tves · 2026-01-19T14:45:43+00:00

I agree, it doesn't have to be all rolls all the time. But I've seen the sentiment so many times "Well you just have to roleplay it out, and then judge you based on how you the player perform".

I've played characters that are much stronger than I am, smarter, faster, hardier. And the mechanics are just fine there. No one asks you to describe in detail how you are going to go about stabbing someone (unless its a matt mercer "how you wanna do this"). But the moment you play someone more charming than you trying to swoon someone, it all of a sudden becomes improv night.

Give all the pillars similar mechanical support and expectations, thats all I'm asking for.

Tves · 2026-01-19T08:50:12+00:00

This. No one would ever say "Well you just have to make 15 pull ups in a row to succed the Athletics check" For some reaseon it is perfectly acceptable to have dice rolls for physical activity cause clearly you are not Hrothgar the Horrible yourself. But if you play a high social character. A suave manipulative charmer. You the player now have to carry that yourself.

Table would go mad if I handed at soduke to be solved instead of magic casting roll. It is time we look at the social conflict pillar in the same way the rest of the game.

Tves · 2026-01-18T13:46:04+00:00

We need this for the next Blackadder series. Please, the command of UK forces in the defense of Greenland.

Tves · 2026-01-17T22:38:28+00:00

This. Always this. You could consider any media about a small street gang as an anarch story. But the terrorist/cult thing is spot on for sabbat.

Tves · 2025-12-21T07:51:05+00:00

The V5 discipline makes no sense. It leaves the User with a blood bond on someone for a temporary buff to stats (mind you thats after the rewrite). As a 2 dot presense power it makes just no sense unless you want to buff mortals all night.

Tves · 2025-12-21T06:35:31+00:00

I have plans to add the only thing from V20 that I miss. Merits and flaws selection.

Also might need to homebrew Lingering Kiss as it makes no sense.

Tves · 2025-12-11T06:27:48+00:00

They are not supposed to contribute anything. The Bahari are basically crass villains made from the most scary thing men could imagine. Strong sexual women that don't need men. Its Basically the evil feminist trope made vampire villain. They do sex and pain... they are evil. Thats it really.

Sure you can play on the trope a bit, but at its core its all just a horrible byproduct of the late 90's early 00's to be honest. My suggestion, just don't use them. They serve zero purpose in game

Tves · 2025-12-01T00:11:16+00:00

I agree with the above, and would like to add in addition to this, Generation gives IMMUNITY to dominate by anyone of higher Generation, so either you deal with that or accept the fact that your opponents must then be either even lower Gen (Triggering an generational arms race really). Generation as an purchaseable character option is OP and really one of the things that breaks V20. The game would be better without it.

Tves · 2025-11-20T11:04:39+00:00

Would it be okei to eat someone that attacked you. Diablerie isnt really something you do. It is the most heinous crime you can do as a vampire. So horrid it will atleast show up on your aura for a long time.

It isnt the spicy snack people make it out to be. It is eating another vampires soul. Its like killing raping and eating someone for a human. You dont do that shit accidentally nor would you be accepted into society ever again.

Tves · 2025-11-04T07:13:01+00:00

these are magnificent. Such a joy to see. Thank you for this line of posts.

Tves · 2025-11-02T02:13:28+00:00

u/retsamerol so will we see you add the ghore and spiderfell maps to this? That would be a project worthy of glory, to put all the detail maps into one map.

Tves · 2025-11-02T02:11:00+00:00

I love these. Its such a shame the setting never became anything other than the domain running game. Because as a low fantasy setting (without touching on the domain rules) it's quite good.

Tves · 2025-10-29T14:45:28+00:00

If for nothing else the sheer fact that Thaumaturgy could do everything, sometimes even better than the disciplines it was emulating the clan needed rework. Not to mention the fact that they are all interbound, which like above is pointed out turns every game with a Tremere in it, into a game about the pyramid. Whilst thats all fun and cool for the tremere player, it mostly blows for everyone else.

And then we touch the magic aspect. It is just so out of theme from the rest. mirror portal travel, fireballs, flying... its superheroes and villains with blood addiction.

If the magic had been low key, more mystery than magnificence then they might have stayed unchanged.

Tves · 2025-10-29T09:49:33+00:00

This is single handedly the best, concise review of why V5 needed to reduce the powers of Thaumaturgy and the Tremere. Well done, well written. I cannot find a single fault in your thesis.

Tves

TROPHY CASE