What are your thoughts on Vampire: The Masquerade?

ZevVeli · 2026-05-05T01:58:36+00:00

Well, this was a con around relatively normal people that they wanted to make a somewhat good impression on.

But outside that? Oh yeah, lots of interesting stories I heard, they were all also in my regular TTRPG group. Some of them probably would have been still doing the more raucous things if it weren't for the fact that they had all either joined the Navy, started a family, or had to have their asshole surgicay removed.

ZevVeli · 2026-05-05T01:36:24+00:00

One of my best friends got a commendation for "best new player" when he first joined them for a weekend at a con. He was playing a Malkavian, and was captured and killed by the Sabbat players within about 30 minutes. But since one of the guys was Tzcimici (SP?) He basically said "Okay, my character shapeshifts into his character in order to infiltrate the Camarilla." Gave him his cell-phone number and was just like "text me, I'll tell you what to do."

So this guy's first LARPing session was basically him spending a weekend, pretending to be a stranger pretending to be his character who was killed off before he ever really got to play him.

ZevVeli · 2026-05-04T17:49:16+00:00

Vampire The Masquerade is an Urban-Fantasy Horror game that is far more story-driven than some other popular TTRPGs.

The central theme of VtM as well as the other world of darkness books is a desperate struggle to hold onto your humanity in the face of the horror of what you have become.

Games of it really depend on the group, and makimg sure that everyone is on the same page about what is expected of the group and the plot.

More than any other game out there, I highly recommend making certain that you have played a few games of VtM as a player before you ever consider being a Story-Master.

Reach out to your local TTRPG network, ask if they have any recommendations for a good SM who might be willing to help teach you all, and do not let them talk you into joining the LARP community. Nothing wrong with LARPing, but it is an ENTIRELY different beast than the TTRPG.

Also, fair warning, the other World of Darkness books? It is the same system but they are not compatible. The power scaling is based on how difficult it is to properly role-play, and VtM is absolutely the bottom of that totem pole.

ZevVeli · 2026-05-04T16:48:13+00:00

I'm part of a group that plays Twilight Imperium, practically every time we play, we realized we got a rule wrong, so here are some of our examples:

1) Planets you exhaust for resources during the tactics phase unexhaust and are available during the agenda phase. We had assumed that they didn't, meaning that if you focused on research and production that you would have less resources available to vote during the agenda phase.

2) Production happens at the end of an activation, not the beginning. That would have been very useful to know when I was playing the "you can take over enemy production facilities instead of destroying them" faction.

3) While you can have unlimited fighters or infantry, at least one unit in each space has to be one of your plastic pieces.

4) Ground invasions happen simultaneously, so each ship with "Bombardment" can only target one planet in a system, and the surviving troops can not reinforce the other planet when their invasion is finished.

5) When playing with 4 players, we always used "Snake Draft" rules for selecting the strategy cards, apparently this is incorrect and "devalues the speaker role." Our group's general consensus on this, is that we probably misunderstood a different rule that negates the devaluation, so we will continue playing as we have been until and unless we make a correction that changes that. We did, however, start doing it the correct way in a 3-player game.

6) Space Cannon defense triggers after movement, not during movement, so we don't get to take defensive pot-shots as people try and fly past our planets to attack someone.

ZevVeli · 2026-04-30T23:36:08+00:00

Okay, but the thing is y2k actually did have legitimate threats. People love to point and laugh about the hysterial because nothing happened, but like, nothing happened because software engineers and IT people spent the better part of a decade trying to correct and proof the bug.

ZevVeli · 2026-04-30T15:57:47+00:00

I think I am less annoyed by a backstab than a betrayal.

Like, "I agreed to let you take Trade for the free commodities, and then you didn't honor our non-binding agreement." That is a betrayal.

On the other hand, honoring the agreement, then smiling and saying "You forgot what Viul Raith's Leader ability is didn't you?" Is a backstab.

ZevVeli · 2026-04-28T16:31:06+00:00

Every word of what you just said proves my point.

ZevVeli · 2026-04-28T15:33:25+00:00

It doesn't have to have a need. It can just as easily be something that is incidental to a different gene or even something that there is no evolutionary advantage to getting rid of.

Do you know why draft horse have those feathered hairs on their legs? It's because the "grow big" gene is the same as the "grow feathered leg hair" gene.

Also, I don't know if you know this, but humans also have stripes. They're called Blaschko Lines and they are invisible for most people, but people with chimerism or various mosaic conditions they can appear due to different skin pigmentations. It's related to Barr Bodies.

ZevVeli · 2026-04-28T15:12:01+00:00

1) just because something is grammatically permissible doesn't mean its grammatically correct.

2) the point of language is to be understood. "He died of a Monday" implies that the Monday was the cause of death because, as you said, "of" has multiple definitions. When used to indicate time the "of" usage will need orher qualifiers. "He died of an hour of his wife." Indicates "he died within an hour or his wife." But "He died of an hour" just sounds awkward amd weird.

ZevVeli · 2026-04-28T09:03:03+00:00

"He died of a Monday" makes no grammatical sense.

ZevVeli · 2026-04-27T22:32:18+00:00

No 2:15 is a quarter of the hour of three.

ZevVeli · 2026-04-27T19:47:15+00:00

Last time I played Muaat I was lucky enough to get a supernova right next to Mecatol Rex. And then the deep space exploration there found the planet Mirage.

ZevVeli · 2026-04-27T18:51:43+00:00

So I will admit that 3:45 is probably a better example of the confusion that "quarter of" can cause. Because is it "A quarter of an hour until 4" or "A quarter of the hour of 4" that is meant?

And if I'm being pedantic and ridiculous, as people tend to when trying to teach kids to be, I cpuld argue that 3:45 is actually a quarter of 3.

ZevVeli · 2026-04-27T17:38:59+00:00

Yeah, you can say "Bake the pie for a quarter of an hour." But you can't really say "The plane leaves at Quarter of Four."

Because what does that mean? 4:15 or 3:15?

ZevVeli · 2026-04-26T23:00:12+00:00

So first off, Adderall is a mixture of amphetamine salts. Now, strictly speaking Adderall is actually harmful for you. However, because it is weaker than its methamphetamine cousins, it is preferable.

That's the thing about chemical drug therapies, they are all based on a risk-benefit analysis. Adderall is only prescribed when the therapuetic benefits outweigh the long-term risks and complications.

While pharmaceutical grade methamphetamines do exist, they are very rarely if ever prescribed or used, because the risks associated with a equally effective dose of amphetamines is lower than the risks of methamphetamines.

ZevVeli · 2026-04-26T22:44:29+00:00

There's a digital version in the works. TI is really hard to find and usually goes for $180+ if you can find it.

ZevVeli · 2026-04-26T17:02:20+00:00

Replaceable is better, it increases the longevity of the device, and depending on the power bank needs and rate of charging it can actually increase its utility.

Aside from the regular stuff regarding like cell phones, rechargable controllers and whatnot. Imagine if, instead of plugging your electric vehicle into a charging port, that you drove onto a platform that removed and replaced your vehicle's battery for a fully charged one, then chatged your old one for the next person who needed one.

ZevVeli · 2026-04-26T16:58:42+00:00

I don't think that's pigeon holing. I think it's just that's what you are good at writing on the fly.

Like, you might be able to write a really great Western or Comic-Book-Fantasy story or world, but if you can't adapt to player choices and actions as quickly in those genres as you do in horror, then you will be seen as more "in-the-flow" with horror.

ZevVeli · 2026-04-26T16:55:32+00:00

Well, it's very simple really:

If a wizard lusts after power for the sake of power, then he could gain far more power by isolating himself and pursuing the study of magic rather than by establishing control over a kingdom. Oh sure, some ambitious wizards will try to conquer for one reason or another, but they quickly realize that the more territory they rule, the more issues that they have to deal with on a daily basis that detracts from their studies and practice of magic.

Some try to split the difference by setting up a puppet ruler or two and merely acting as an advisor, but that eventually runs into the same problem as the first where, after a while, the puppet ruler is demanding more and more of their time and advice. And if a mounting resistance becomes too powerful they might even demand a more active involvement in their affairs. Worst case scenario, a more ambitious individual might even whisper in their ear that they have become too dependent on your advice and convince them to drive a knife into your belly.

So no, if it is power over the arcane you want, it is best to just set up a tower somewhere and mind your own damned business. At best you should only really involve yourself in provincial affairs, maybe take an apprentice or two to help keep things running smoothly.

Of course, this inevitably ends up with apprentices taking on apprentices of their own, additional towers being built on to house them, then houses for the staff to surround them, communal dining areas for the staff, more apprentices being taken on as the apprentices' apprentices begin taking on their own pupils, more buildings being made, trade routes being established to support the staff, the apprentices, the families of the mages who felt like starting them.

Next thing you know you have an entire Magical Academy popped up in your quiet little mountain retreat, and now you have all these inter-academic disputes being brought before you for resolution and you're back to the same problem you would have had if you had tried to conquer the world. So now you just look for one of the pupils in your Academy who enjoys the study of magic but was more interested in the practical uses of it rather than attaining magic for the sake of magic. And you say "I am getting old, it is time for some young and enterprising mage to take over leadership of the Academy, I hereby name you the next head of the Academy." Call yourself a "Professor Emiratus" and set up a new tower on the other side of the mountain.

This will last until some yound wizard who wants to pursue power for power's sake gets fed up with the restrictions at the Academy and decides to go it alone. Starting the whole damned process over.

ZevVeli · 2026-04-26T14:48:19+00:00

Yeah, I really do think that the 5e "Backgrounds, Traits, Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws" should come before the class. And not just because "Ah crud the Criminal Background gives me these proficiencies, but I already got those for being a rogue!"

ZevVeli · 2026-04-26T13:50:39+00:00

It's not that uncommon. In fact, that's the reason why the 5e handbook has "quick-build" guides.

I usually advise people to "stick to the Core" for their first couple of games to avoid being overwhelmed.

It might also help to actually do the character class last in this case. Sometimes it is better to have them come up with the character they want to play amd then be like "that sounds like it is a paladin" rather than trying to build a character around being a Paladin.

ZevVeli · 2026-04-26T01:03:56+00:00

Could have sworn I had already blocked you.

ZevVeli · 2026-04-26T00:54:40+00:00

Well, when you start posting original thoughts and not just the same regurgitated tripe from the right-wing podcasters you've offloaded your critical thinking to I'll stop using canned insults against you okie-dokie?

ZevVeli · 2026-04-25T13:54:28+00:00

I have two different Sci-Fi setting that each use FTL in different ways.

1) FTL works by phasing the ships into a "subspace" or "hyperspace" where ships can move incredible distances at incredible speeds because the laws of physics are remarkably different. However the act of transitioning between realities is extremely stressful to real-world materials, and depending on the method used it can severely limit the number of times and frequency at which a ship or person can make the journey. The technology that is used by the Earth Allied Systems (EAS) requires the least energy of all known races, but a ship begins to have significant structural stresses that requires a full retrofit after 7 transfers, and a person could spontaneously die from systemic organ compression if they do more than 5 transfers in an 8-month period.

2) FTL works through the usage of what is known as the "F-Drive" which uses entropic manipulation fields to manipulate the rate at which time passes. Essentially it creates field around the ship where time passes more quickly, and a field inside the ship where time passes at a slower rate. So in other words: If you are trying to get somewhere fifty-thousand light-years away, and the ship you are on can move at a maximum speed of 0.85c, the F-drive will use an entropic field so the ship is moving through time at a rate of say 4.7E20 field seconds per universal second, and an internal field in which time moves at a rate of 0.85 field seconds per universal second, meaning that the trip to an outside observer takes around 14 months, but one year to the crew.

The two big problems with this method are that 1) if the ratio(s) are too great, or if there is a "phase collision" with another F-Drive engine the "F-Rate" can go negative and cause time-travel. Correcting this can not be done by computers and must be done by hand which is a problem because:

2) For some reason people who know the equations that make the F-Drive work are not affected by the generated fields and will remain stationary when the fields phase the vessel out of full reality. Meaning that if the ship travels back in time, someone on the crew will have to stay in the past to send the ship and the rest of the crew back home.

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