[X] I chose to investigate the disappearance of my clan's informants among the homeless population of Riverdale.
We have several reasons to accept this quest. Artie has many connections that could aid us in helping the Vets caught in this mess. We might be able to gain information from Valerie's organization and our herd. Vets talk to Vets and have probably been keeping track of those who went missing and where they were staying or going when they disappeared. Additionally we get to help Calhoun and Wauneka, as well as clan Nosferatu as a whole.

I really like this outcome, we did that quest for Gengis to pay our debt to him. Than we are told, that he now owes us a Major boon for our service. The situation really did feel like a messy critical, it made me feel like a sleazy lawyer taking advantage of his clients plight. This new dynamic between Artie and Gengis may grow on me more in the future. I'm reminded of a story of two soldiers who fought on opposite sides during the Civil War yet became best friends. When the war ended they settled down and became next door neighbors.

Edit: That Two-Face quip was gold, Rogue. Though I feel a little bad for Artie, that he appreciates having an insult unique to him.
 
Last edited:
That Two-Face quip was gold, Rogue. Though I feel a little bad for Artie, that he appreciates having an insult unique to him.
Thank you. I'm proud of the reference to Harvey Dent, as it works on multiple levels.

Don't feel too bad for Artie. If there's one thing I've learned from reading Terminal Lance, the enlisted are no strangers to shitty nicknames. Arturo lucked out by having "Artie" catch on with the rest of his squad. Valerie got saddled with "Enchilada" after that unfortunate incident with the MRE.
 
[X] I chose to investigate the disappearance of my clan's informants among the homeless population of Riverdale.
Honestly, when we have opportunities in future to make friends like this we should take them, having some more people we can actually depend on significantly increases the chances of us being able to solve any given issue without needing to resort to violence.
 
[X] I chose to investigate the disappearance of my clan's informants among the homeless population of Riverdale.
 
[X] I chose to investigate the disappearance of my clan's informants among the homeless population of Riverdale.
Honestly, when we have opportunities in the future to make friends like this, we should take them. Having some more people we can actually depend on significantly increases the chances of us being able to solve any given issue without needing to resort to violence.
I'll also add that by taking Gengis as a Mawla, you retain access to opportunities like learning the Celerity Discipline or some of the skills Gengis has picked up. All you need to do to pick up another Discipline is to spend the requisite 7 XP.

Hey, quick question is this next story going to be a secret crossover with the CW show?
The Archie Comics characters may or may not cameo in the upcoming arc. It's not guaranteed, but the odds aren't zero either.
 
Don't feel too bad for Artie. If there's one thing I've learned from reading Terminal Lance, the enlisted are no strangers to shitty nicknames. Arturo lucked out by having "Artie" catch on with the rest of his squad. Valerie got saddled with "Enchilada" after that unfortunate incident with the MRE.

A specialist in my unit currently goes by "Diaper Wipes" because she refused to believe they were actually called baby wipes.
 
Yay we made fren.

[x] I chose to investigate the disappearance of my clan's informants among the homeless population of Riverdale.

This feels more important - lives at stake, clan business, possible Masquerade breaches and probably damaging Herds as well.
 
Oh, cool! I didn't know you were part of the military. Which branch? Army? Marines?
Army actually, and the bad nicknames thing is real. I have another buddy who deployed with me, who just made Sergeant, and he still goes by Taint. His actually name is Oldham, which turned into Tainted Meat, and seconds after that was abbreviated.
 
The One-Eyed King 6.01
The Nosferatu warren is accessible through a nondescript alley several blocks away from your haven in River North. As you descend the ladder to the Chicago sewer system, you look up at the grimy ceiling and spot one of the tiny hidden cameras your clanmates use to track visitors, welcome or otherwise. You pause briefly to wave at the camera before continuing your descent into the sewers.

You'll admit that you aren't as familiar with the Chicago sewer system as some of your clanmates, given that you can still go out in public without breaching the Masquerade. However, you can still navigate the underground labyrinth beneath the city well enough to avoid getting lost. Once you get used to the stench of human waste, the extra concealment becomes a more apparent advantage of slogging through the sewers. Before long, you find yourself outside the former utility room where Calhoun has set up his office. You knock on the thick wooden door and wait until you hear a familiar voice from inside. "Enter."

Calhoun's office starkly contrasts the sewer system just outside the door. If you didn't know any better, you never would have guessed it was right next to literal rivers of shit. Wood paneling covers the surrounding stone walls, illuminated by tastefully recessed modern light fixtures. Calhoun and Wauneka stand around a stately wooden desk in the center of the room. Atop the table's polished surface is a map of Chicago covered with scribbled notes.

"Ah, Arturo. I'm pleased to have you here." Calhoun shakes your hand while Wauneka nods his head, acknowledging your presence. He seems content to let his sire dispense the pleasantries. "It's been far too long since we last met, though I wish the circumstances that brought us here were more pleasant."

"Me too, sir." You give the map on the table another glance as you draw closer. "So what's this I hear about a new Kindred in town?"

Wauneka pushes off against the wall he was leaning against to stride over to your side. He places a fingertip on the portion of the map depicting the Riverdale neighborhood. "Over the last few weeks, our informants in Riverdale reported the emergence of a low-level crime boss encroaching on the more established gang territories. His people call him Sir Olaf, the One-Eyed King."

"With a title as grandiose as that, I'm guessing this 'Olaf' is an elder?"

Both of the older Nosferatu nod, and Calhoun is next to speak. "That is what we suspect as well. Kindred prose has a habit of growing more florid with age and distance from humanity."

You hum in thought. What an older vampire might lack in raw power, he'll make up for in cunning and experience developed over centuries of unlife. "Do we know what clan Olaf is?"

"The only thing we know is that he ain't one of us," Wauneka answers. "Our people say he's one ugly motherfucker, but he doesn't have the same kind of repulsiveness we do."

You nod. "Alright then. How can I help?"

Calhoun picks up a dossier on the desk next to the map and hands it to you. As you flip it open and start reading about the fat man in the photograph, your Primogen fills you in on the details. "A Mr. Terry Jenkins runs a small prostitution ring out of a seedy motel in Riverdale called the Top Rung. The local criminals know Mr. Jenkins as 'T-Bone.' We believe him to be part of Sir Olaf's criminal network."

"Your job is to gain T-Bone's trust and leverage that connection to find out what this Olaf is planning. You're one of the few Nosferatu who can still pass as human, so we need you to take point on this op," Wauneka says. "Be careful, though. T-Bone likes to kill those who cross him by beating them to death with spiked brass knuckles. That risk is why we chose you over the other candidates - you know how to handle yourself in a fight."

"Alright, but what about the risk of discovery? I'm something of a public figure now. While most people won't recognize me on sight, if T-Bone is smart enough to do some digging and report back to Olaf about my true identity, things could get messy quickly."

Calhoun nods as he reaches for another dossier. "That is true, but to mitigate that risk as much as possible, we've created a cover identity for you that should withstand scrutiny."

You open the new dossier to find pictures of you in your old Army uniform, taken before your Embrace. Also in the file are documents detailing your fake history. "Arturo Cross. Served four years in Afghanistan as an Army infantryman before dropping out of college and turning to a life of petty crime to make ends meet."

"We deliberately kept the background of 'Arturo Cross' as similar to yours as possible," Calhoun says. "The fewer details you need to keep straight, the lower the risk of giving yourself away by accident. Do you have any other questions?"

[] [Question] Write-in.
 
[X] [Question] should this stay in house? Or can i get someone to assist? Easiest way to gain his trust is to defend him.
We could set him up. We " kill" his " attacker"

[X] [Question] can we adjust my cover a little? Give him a fake weakness he can exploit. False blackmail he can use to be sure we will obey. Example: we are hunted by another crime boss.
 
[x] "Why the cloak and dagger? Why not just show up on Sir Olaf's doorstep and have a conversation about who owns what in Chicago?

My answer would that doing that would be extremely dangerous. They think he's an elder at least, he could be older and rule of thumb says the older a vampire the more power that vampire is. Being the messenger for what is basically a threat could vary we'll be the death of you. That's why they want to gather information first, figure out his strengths and weaknesses first before they use force to put him in compliance. We don't even no what his affiliation is, which could be very important for our higher ups. If an Elder of the Sabbat mosy's on into town. Prince Jackson will want to know that.

[X] What if I run into trouble during my talk with T-bone? Should I extract him and bring him back to base for interrogation? I plan to do my part but I want to know if we have a plan B waiting in the wings?
 
Last edited:
How do these question rounds go? Does each question a player gets asked get answered, or is it a vote?
 
How do these question rounds go? Does each question... get answered, or is it a vote?
Ask as many questions as you care to ask, and you will receive answers from whoever you're talking to or OOC from me as the QM filling in details Artie would already know or consider.

However, remember that whoever you're talking to will react accordingly. Asking someone if he is a traitor is unlikely to reveal his allegiance, and Kindred will judge you for inquiries they deem foolish. See Sierra asking Artie if they're serious about wanting to draw her while she's a prisoner of the Camarilla.

-​

While I work on the next update, I'd like to ask your opinion on how granular you'd like the process of customizing Artie to be in the future. Previously, I threw a whole bunch of individual options at you after the Lasombra joined the Camarilla, and you guys came up with a bunch of plans and eventually settled on one. However, would you prefer future customization choices to come in packages to streamline the process?

These prepackaged options would reflect different areas of focus. Of course, I'm open to customized plans being submitted to the thread so long as the combined XP cost doesn't exceed Artie's available XP. However, I don't want access to the Vampire sourcebooks to be a prerequisite to participation. In any case, here's how I might present the prepackaged options in the future.
  • Calhoun tutored me in the Animalism Discipline in exchange for a big favor. (9 XP)
    • Animalism 2
      • Bond Famulus: Form a mental link with a Blood-Bound animal familiar.
      • Feral Whispers: Gain the ability to summon and communicate with animals.
    • Debt to Cedrick Calhoun (Debt 2)
  • I earned enough of Horatio Ballard's respect for him to place me in charge of a piece of his financial empire. (12 XP)
    • Ballard Subsidiary (Resources 4, Influence 3)
    • Major Competitor (Enemy 2)
    • Disgruntled Executive Passed Over for Promotion (Enemy 1)
  • Sheriff Damien appointed me as one of his Hounds. (15 XP)
    • Damien (Mawla 4)
    • Influential among the Camarilla (Status 2 3)
 
Last edited:
[X] [Question] can we adjust my cover a little? Give him a fake weakness he can exploit. False blackmail he can use to be sure we will obey. Example: we are hunted by another crime boss.
Why would we ask for that weakness to be included? The only way our targets would know about the weakness is if we tell them about it, and we wouldn't be telling them about it.

However, remember that whoever you're talking to will react accordingly. Asking someone if he is a traitor is unlikely to reveal his allegiance, and Kindred will judge you for inquiries they deem foolish. See Sierra asking Artie if they're serious about wanting to draw her while she's a prisoner of the Camarilla.
What if one player wants to ask something that you don't want asked?

While I work on the next update, I'd like to ask your opinion on how granular you'd like the process of customizing Artie to be in the future. Previously, I threw a whole bunch of individual options at you after the Lasombra joined the Camarilla, and you guys came up with a bunch of plans and eventually settled on one. However, would you prefer future customization choices to come in packages to streamline the process?

These prepackaged options would reflect different areas of focus. Of course, I'm open to customized plans being submitted to the thread so long as the combined XP cost doesn't exceed Artie's available XP. However, I don't want access to the Vampire sourcebooks to be a prerequisite to participation. In any case, here's how I might present the prepackaged options in the future.
I personally prefer the more granular approach, so as long as that's still an option as a write-in, I'd be quite ok with the prepackaged options. Might indeed help players grapple with levelling up easier.
 
See Sierra asking Artie if they're serious about wanting to draw her while she's a prisoner of the Camarilla.
That's on me, I'm an eccentric person that reacts to situations in an eccentric way. I'm aware of my flaws but don't always see the issue from someone else's perspective.

These prepackaged options would reflect different areas of focus. Of course, I'm open to customized plans being submitted to the thread so long as the combined XP cost doesn't exceed Artie's available XP.
I like this idea, though I'm curious how the Flaws interact with the XP spending. They make for cool and unexpected reactions for both our growth in power and as a person. But will all future XP spending result in a Flaw or are those random occurrences?
 
Back
Top