Salubri are a thing, even if they are rare.
I Hate This Game (Gamer OC-SI/Old World of Darkness)
- Thread starter Xolsis
- Start date
- Crossover Mature
Salubri (in the final nights) aren't high humanity. They were character assassinated in one of the auxiliary material. Now the non sabbat faction of the salubri are weird suicidal diablerists, in that theyre a secretive hidden cult that recruits their successors to perform diablarie on them, after a suitable testing regime to see if they get as fanatical and brainwashed as them to seek Golconda.
The 'good vampires' that white wolf couldn't character assassinate because of prior material are either singular aberrations that tend to be young (older vampires tend to turn more monstrous as per theme), or the children of Osiris cult which was connected to a major setting god, so they just had kemintiri kill most of them (they tried to help her out because of who she was when alive) and the rest being 'cured' of vampirism by Isis and Osiris and turn into normal humans or become briefly acquainted with the light of the sun, if they were secret bad boys and girls. White wolf really really hated the bardo discipline and wanted it gone.
The 'good vampires' that white wolf couldn't character assassinate because of prior material are either singular aberrations that tend to be young (older vampires tend to turn more monstrous as per theme), or the children of Osiris cult which was connected to a major setting god, so they just had kemintiri kill most of them (they tried to help her out because of who she was when alive) and the rest being 'cured' of vampirism by Isis and Osiris and turn into normal humans or become briefly acquainted with the light of the sun, if they were secret bad boys and girls. White wolf really really hated the bardo discipline and wanted it gone.
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- Location
- Australia
I mean yeah, if they really are using old lore demons, that proves they aren't opposed fundamentally to ignoring parts of current canon.
- Pronouns
- Male
White Wolf has a really bad tendancy to make one specific stat just to make your life a living hell. It's a defect in all of their games, whether it be Exalted, World of Darkness, or when they were originally making the Trinity universe.
So, this is all going to be Old World Lore, because even if the lore doesn't really fit together, it's better than trying to shove Chronicles of Darkness into it.
Demon the Descent has you playing as Daemons, former agents of the God Machine, a nigh omnipotent machine whose sole mission is to maintain the status quo of the World of Darkness, even if it doesn't make any sense. Daemons in Chronicles call themselves the Unchained, as all of them have broken the shackles of whatever programming the God Machine had on them, making all of them have their own free will instead of simply being another cog in the God Machine's works.
The Unchained hack reality through their former connection to the God Machine, though they are limited in what energy they have, and also in what activities they go through. Instead of humanity or torment, they have something called Cover. A human identity that is their's completely in body and soul. The first Cover they have is probably the remnants of the one they were using when they Fell, though they can receive more through making a deal with humans for their identities.
I could write a whole essay on them, but I adore the Unchained a lot more than the Fallen given that Demon the Descent is lacking a lot of that racism and Old World of Darkness Stink.
As for the other splats, it depends.
Apocalypse over Forsaken, hands down. Don't know Mummy, don't care about Vampire, don't know Wraith or Geist, and Old World Mage will always have that special something that Awakening just can't get.
Changeling is another can of worms, and a very unique premise.
Ironically, even though it lies to you through presentation, Changeling the Dreaming is the most depressing of the Old World splats because no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, your fairy self is going to die. The wonder and hopes of dreams that you desperately cling to is going to dissapear because that's the world that White Wolf created, one where wonder and hope are all but dead.
The Lost is a very different, yet very engaging premise. Playing as people kidnapped and tortured for who knows how long, changed against your will, yet you were smart enough, strong enough, or just damn stubborn enough to escape the fae to get back to your life. Only your old life has been taken by a thing that thought it was you, a fetch that didn't choose or want to take your place. So now you have to build a new life, create something new for yourself in spite of the deck stacked against you. And there is some hope to that, a hope that the Dreaming stomps with a smile on it's face.
Hunter meanwhile changed a lot from Old to Chronicle, with both having thier own strengths and interesting details.
One thing that Chronicles does really well is create their games as a toolbox for GM's for whatever kind of game that you want, allowing Storytellers a lot more freedom that Old World of Darkness just didn't have, along with being able to coexist without stepping on each others toes which Old World of Darkness was really bad at.
There are guides for crossing over splats from one side to the other, but I'm probably not going to do that, at least I have no plans to do so.
Old World of Darkness metaplot was weird, bombastic, and had a sorta cosmic feel to it, while Chronicles is much more narrow and mundane. In Werewolf you're not a doomed warrior race fighting a pointless war that your own race helped make even worse so many years ago, you play as almost alien spirit humans that care more about policing their territories from invasive spirits than they do about fulfilling their duty.
In Changeling your main objective isn't trying to keep wonder and hope alive in the world, but instead just trying to rebuild the broken life you now lead, always looking over your shoulder for if your former tormentor comes looking for you.
The power scaling is also a lot lower on the Chronicles side. One on one a Garou can take down an Uratha no problem, and I'm pretty sure that Old Mages are just a lot stronger than Awakening ones.
Don't worry, fuck that. Of course White Wolf would try to ruin the one good guy faction that Vampires had.
Reminds me of that one time there was massive backlash in Werewolf the Forsaken.
In Forsaken, like Apocalypse, two Werwolves breeding was a nono and the child was born cursed in the spirit world that you had to kill before it hunted you and your mate down. So, to avoid that, players started having their gay characters hooking up.
White Wolf threw a fit and then said that even same sex couples would still create a Ghost Child.
It caused them to backpedal hard in second edition.
If you think this is fucked up, go digging into some Old World lore. White Wolf has been doing this since the nineties.
Neko-tama
[Verified Cat] [Verified Writer]
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Coming at this as someone who only knows WoD from Bloodlines, and a handful of lore videos the discussion is way over my head.
I like the story so far, though personally I would have preferred if there wasn't a shop to limit just how out of context this problem can get. If she can just buy whatever from wherever, that is to bullshit for too little effort.
I like the story so far, though personally I would have preferred if there wasn't a shop to limit just how out of context this problem can get. If she can just buy whatever from wherever, that is to bullshit for too little effort.
White wolf loved their fuck you over stats.
It's part of their brand. And they probably wouldn't be recognizable as the same kind of game without those, and they often did give you tools to play without them (or in the case of vampire, alternatives that don't let you pretend not to be a total monster).
Humanity in particular is strange in that humans also have it. It just turns out that vampires react even worse than humans to having low humanity. A 0 humanity human is a thoughtless sociopath without any moral framework at all, that doesn't consider even one step more than their wants, even to their detriment, since they have no self control (a humanity substat, the other being conscience\empathy). Probably going to get killed, but it's not certain.
A zero humanity vampire lost its fucking mind and is a bloodthirsty animal with no coming back to rationality, in effect, PC death. I always kind of low key liked that WoD vampires are actually just cursed humans, ie: they have souls and go to the same afterlife. The same, shitty, grimdark, afterlife (it's the wod).
It's part of their brand. And they probably wouldn't be recognizable as the same kind of game without those, and they often did give you tools to play without them (or in the case of vampire, alternatives that don't let you pretend not to be a total monster).
Humanity in particular is strange in that humans also have it. It just turns out that vampires react even worse than humans to having low humanity. A 0 humanity human is a thoughtless sociopath without any moral framework at all, that doesn't consider even one step more than their wants, even to their detriment, since they have no self control (a humanity substat, the other being conscience\empathy). Probably going to get killed, but it's not certain.
A zero humanity vampire lost its fucking mind and is a bloodthirsty animal with no coming back to rationality, in effect, PC death. I always kind of low key liked that WoD vampires are actually just cursed humans, ie: they have souls and go to the same afterlife. The same, shitty, grimdark, afterlife (it's the wod).
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- Location
- Missouri
I think you mean "let you stop pretending to not be a total monster" there.
Hell, the Path of the Beast (or Feral Heart as they renamed it later) is explicitly internalizing your vampiric nature instead of fighting it. Up until rating 9-10, its moral code is literally just a checklist of how to play the game effectively.
It is, in short, very much what happens when someone with zero Humanity comes back to rationality.
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KillerFish
Grumpy Owl, Bird Lawyer
Hmmm, tricky.
The best thing you can do for fledgling hunters is introduce them to the greatest weapon a unenhanced human has against the Darkness, True Faith.
Ironically, this has nothing to do with being religious, or getting powers from deities. Instead it's belief in something (can be a god, a concept, a mission or goal ect.) so strong that a person's own conviction protects them. It's why hunters use religious symbols.
If you could pair it with the Dwarven Runecrafting, you might have a killer app. Teach them the runes, and how to power them. Show them that they work, and can be used against the monsters of the world, and claim they work because of belief.
They see them doing what you say they can, and they start believing in them. They start using runes themselves, and see they work, and they become certain in their belief, after all they don't want them to stop working.
Pretty soon all hunters taught runes will gain True Faith in the runes, making them de facto holy weapons.
The best thing you can do for fledgling hunters is introduce them to the greatest weapon a unenhanced human has against the Darkness, True Faith.
Ironically, this has nothing to do with being religious, or getting powers from deities. Instead it's belief in something (can be a god, a concept, a mission or goal ect.) so strong that a person's own conviction protects them. It's why hunters use religious symbols.
If you could pair it with the Dwarven Runecrafting, you might have a killer app. Teach them the runes, and how to power them. Show them that they work, and can be used against the monsters of the world, and claim they work because of belief.
They see them doing what you say they can, and they start believing in them. They start using runes themselves, and see they work, and they become certain in their belief, after all they don't want them to stop working.
Pretty soon all hunters taught runes will gain True Faith in the runes, making them de facto holy weapons.
Anything that can be separated from the protagonist agents\companions is not enough imo. Capture and brainwashing is a real and common danger.
In fact, the only way to survive is insurgency decentralized tactics, or lying low at the margins, at least if you also don't want the masquerade broken wide open.
At least 5 common powers need to be prevented, not counting base greed, simple detective work or threats. Presence, dominate, dementation, bloodbond, and the kiss. Obfuscate is also a danger, in that a patient nosferatu or even a ghoul can unravel a whole network just by waiting in a corner. High auspex may notice something funny about the PC or any enhancements they give out.
Less common is necromancy, but some clans do practice it and can ask questions of the dead or spirits. If the camarilla or the sabbat or both focus as a whole on the PC hunter kingdom, anywhere on earth is not safe, even in the middle of a tribe of werewolves (that wouldn't be safe anyway, but for different reasons). Factions like the nosferatu, the malkavians, the tremere are almost as bad if they get wind of the PC.
Usually high tier WoD conspiracy factions get around this 'scry and die' methodology by having their base on one of the many other dimensions of the setting.
In fact, the only way to survive is insurgency decentralized tactics, or lying low at the margins, at least if you also don't want the masquerade broken wide open.
At least 5 common powers need to be prevented, not counting base greed, simple detective work or threats. Presence, dominate, dementation, bloodbond, and the kiss. Obfuscate is also a danger, in that a patient nosferatu or even a ghoul can unravel a whole network just by waiting in a corner. High auspex may notice something funny about the PC or any enhancements they give out.
Less common is necromancy, but some clans do practice it and can ask questions of the dead or spirits. If the camarilla or the sabbat or both focus as a whole on the PC hunter kingdom, anywhere on earth is not safe, even in the middle of a tribe of werewolves (that wouldn't be safe anyway, but for different reasons). Factions like the nosferatu, the malkavians, the tremere are almost as bad if they get wind of the PC.
Usually high tier WoD conspiracy factions get around this 'scry and die' methodology by having their base on one of the many other dimensions of the setting.
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Not everyone. Most would still treat them as tools or magical objects. True Faith is more than just being sure that something works.
Also, while useful, runes won't turn hunters into perfect vampire killers. Without Awakening hunters would be very limited in how many runes they can craft and power up - either with their life force or Faith (not True Faith). So the most likely outcome is 1-3 runes per hunter. Unless they get added to the Party or get themselves some supernatural advantage.
Hell, even hunters with True Faith is just a reason for vampires to grumble about those pesky humans and get out the guns. As in simply guns. Due to how their physiology works they gonna win most shootouts by default. So you are going to see a lot of brainwashed fledglings armed with AKs being thrown at hunters.
WoD problems can't be solved without breaking the Masquerade and as long as Technocracy more reasonable factions, which are currently very small and anemic, aren't in power you are not going to be able to do it without getting troopers with power armor and death rays gunning for your ass.
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- Pronouns
- Male
Most Paths of Enlightenment are... fucking alien, and of course the Sabbat are the ones that follow them most of the time.
I do have to ask, why are you assuming this? If Mia does teach people magic, why do you think that it's going to run on Faith or WoD rules when these abilties are coming from other worlds?
This isn't me discouraging discussion, I'm adoring the ideas that have been thrown around. It's just me wondering why you are making this assumption when nothing has been shown how Mia's powers interact outside the party.
You are right on the Masquerade bit. The unfortnate reality is that breaking it also unleashes hell on the rest of the general population. People start believing that Vampires are true, suddenly mages have more wiggle room to do their shit while Vamps are starting to chow down on the general population that is beginning to fight back.
I have not read the Apocalypse scenerio for Vampires, Gahenna, but in the sheer numbers game, Vampires are going to lose. They need Humanity alive far more than Humanity needs them.
As for the Technocracy it depends on what their current state it depending on GM. One path is that they are disjointed and working together but don't really agree, or, and this is the most probable one, Nephandi have taken over certain positions and the Technocrats are none the wiser.
Hmm, if she actually can make such a wide reaching change than everyone else is screwed. Because it means she can do things that make wizards and archmages look like children playing with color blocks. Frankly, that seems to be something on par with local god or at least the major spirits like Gaia and Co. Because she would be literally rewriting the underlying metaphysics of the setting on the global scale.
Assuming of course that people she teaches to use runes also can teach other people to use them. If its not the case than System acts as a kind of patron for everyone who interacts with it providing them with power even without adding them to the Party.
The assumption itself was based on the fact that on average System allows only its direct participants to get the effects that supersede the general reality. In most stories. So you need to be an MC or a Party member to use its advantages without limitations. Otherwise you need to jump through hoops and find workarounds.
P.S. If she actually can rewrite people or laws on a global scale it would be a race between multiple factions to murder or kidnap Mia. With nukes most likely involved somewhere.
never read gehenna but from discussion its either:
A judgement day
B antideluvians( gen 3 vamp demigodthings) wakeup and eat everything
or
C theres some ritual from cain that forces all vamps to walk into the daylight,solving the problem.
. cause some vamp powers allow control along sire-lines. would be a good method once mc gets strong enough. grab some 5th gen elder and dust all their progeny at once. repeat until satisfied
A judgement day
B antideluvians( gen 3 vamp demigodthings) wakeup and eat everything
or
C theres some ritual from cain that forces all vamps to walk into the daylight,solving the problem.
. cause some vamp powers allow control along sire-lines. would be a good method once mc gets strong enough. grab some 5th gen elder and dust all their progeny at once. repeat until satisfied
Even if such a mass curse worked, (there is the assamite precedent, which targeted a whole clan, regardless of generation), it would immediately wake up the Antedilluvians and Methuselahs. With luck only those of that clan, without, all of them not already awake. Sure some of them would just be frightened by airplanes and bright lights at night at first (like a 4th gen toreador in the splat), but many of them would just pop off auspex 8 or 9 or one of the sorcery information gathering paths of blood and immediately zoom in the funny guy.
Mass vampire death was what caused the week of nightmares, namely because of sabbat mass embraces and mass death waking up Ravana, the ravnos eldest.
Mass vampire death was what caused the week of nightmares, namely because of sabbat mass embraces and mass death waking up Ravana, the ravnos eldest.
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KillerFish
Grumpy Owl, Bird Lawyer
To be fair, I was making assumptions here based on the Forge description that Dwarves cannot feel or manipulate the Winds of Magic, so used Runes to do it for them. My assumption was that they naturally draw in the local magic field equivalent to power themselves without there being a "limit" to how many a person can activate, only a limit to how much a person knows about Runes.
My whole suggestion with True Faith was to essentially mislead the new Runecrafters on the precise mechanics of how they work in an effort to engender a form of True Faith based around the Runes themselves. True Faith doesn't have to be correct, the person wielding it just has to "really believe" it's correct.
My whole suggestion with True Faith was to essentially mislead the new Runecrafters on the precise mechanics of how they work in an effort to engender a form of True Faith based around the Runes themselves. True Faith doesn't have to be correct, the person wielding it just has to "really believe" it's correct.
Threat null is the worst one imo. Even more flanderised technocrats.
Czlyydwr Llrngwl
"Sell ya a door Learn gull," Czly/Celly for short
- Location
- Where the Beef is
- Pronouns
- Any
Well this is unexpectedly cool. I dislike what little I know of either version of WoD and certain recurring features of the Storyteller System in general, aside from the portrayal in the oWoD/Mass Effect crossover Pencils Down Death Rays Up or the Street Fighter RPG, and generally despise all depictions of undead, so an MC who operates on a different paradigm entirely with a mission from (something close enough to a) God to enfucken everyone's reindeer games sounds like a fun time to me.
Recruitment
- Pronouns
- Male
ATTENTION GAMER
WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE, BUT THIS MESSAGE IS MEANT TO INFORM YOU THAT LEVELING UP SKILLS WILL NO LONGER GRANT ADDITIONAL STAT POINTS. THIS WAS A MISTAKE ON OUR PART, AS AN OLD VERSION OF THE GAMER SYSTEM HAD BEEN ACCIDENTALLY UPLOADED TO YOU.
THIS MISTAKE HAS BEEN CLEARED UP, AND WE WILL NOT REMOVE WHAT STAT POINTS YOU HAVE GAINED IN YOUR EXPERIENCE.
ADDITIONALLY, WE HAVE FOUND AN ERROR IN HOW MUCH EXPERIENCE AND GP YOU HAVE BEEN EARNING, SO WE HAVE FIXED THOSE ISSUES ACCORDINGLY.
IN ADDITION, QUESTS AND THE MESSAGE TAB HAVE BEEN ADDED BACK INTO YOUR SYSTEM AS HAD BEEN INTENDED.
WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE, BUT THIS MESSAGE IS MEANT TO INFORM YOU THAT LEVELING UP SKILLS WILL NO LONGER GRANT ADDITIONAL STAT POINTS. THIS WAS A MISTAKE ON OUR PART, AS AN OLD VERSION OF THE GAMER SYSTEM HAD BEEN ACCIDENTALLY UPLOADED TO YOU.
THIS MISTAKE HAS BEEN CLEARED UP, AND WE WILL NOT REMOVE WHAT STAT POINTS YOU HAVE GAINED IN YOUR EXPERIENCE.
ADDITIONALLY, WE HAVE FOUND AN ERROR IN HOW MUCH EXPERIENCE AND GP YOU HAVE BEEN EARNING, SO WE HAVE FIXED THOSE ISSUES ACCORDINGLY.
IN ADDITION, QUESTS AND THE MESSAGE TAB HAVE BEEN ADDED BACK INTO YOUR SYSTEM AS HAD BEEN INTENDED.
I fucking knew that we were earning Stat points too fucking easy. At least they didn't take them away cause of their fuck up.
First thing I did after that was go to the messages tab, and gave a wicked smile at the fact I had two options available to me. A chat for Isabelle, and a chat for Bobby boy.
I made sure to fill up the message I sent him with all the curse words, frustration and hate that I could before hitting send, and gave a sigh of contentment.
Might it be a mistake to antagonize the guy that was my 'handler' through the all powerful gamer system?
Probably.
Did I give a damn? Hell fucking no.
What did it mean by "Quests" were added back though? I thought I was already getting quests?
Clicking onto the quest tab, I had to hold back a gasp at the sheer wall of text that stretched out in front of me. Lines and lines of words, all of them rated at different levels of difficulty and danger, each one providing something new.
Before I could click on any of them, another prompt appeared.
CONGRATULATIONS ON BEING GIVEN ACCESS TO THE QUEST SYSTEM!
GIVEN THAT THOSE WITH HALF A BRAIN WOULD LIKE TO REMAIN AS INCOGNITO AS THE BLOOD SUCKERS OR THE WOLF FUCKERS, WE FIGURED THAT YOU MIGHT WANT AN ALTERNATIVE TO GROWING STRONGER THAT DOESN'T INVOLVE BEING THROWN BEHIND BARS LIKE IN YOUR TEENS
Oh fuck off.
YOU ALSO MIGHT HAVE NOTICED THAT THERE ARE SOME OPTIONS IN THE SHOP THAT HAVE BEEN KEPT LOCKED AWAY LIKE YOUR VIRGINITY SHOULD HAVE.
Bobby, I was going to stab you the moment I get my hands on you, now I'm going to break my foot up your ass while I make you sing Hallelujah
WELL DON'T WORRY, NOW YOU HAVE ANOTHER METHOD TO UNLOCK NEW THINGS FROM THE SHOP, OR BETTER YET, STEALING IT YOURSELF LIKE THE KLEPTOMANIAC YOU HIDE INSIDE!
INSTANT QUESTS ARE NOW AVAILABLE TO BE TAKEN, NO TIME SHALL PASS WHILE YOU INITIATE SUCH QUESTS, SO NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT THAT POOR SCHMUCK THAT YOU KIDNAPPED DYING IN THE TRUNK LIKE A DOG WOULD IF YOU LEAVE HIM IN THE CAR DURING A HOT DAY.
OF COURSE, THERE ARE OTHER BENEFITS TO THESE BENEFITS, BUT I THINK THAT I'M GOING TO LET YOU FIGURE THOSE OUT ON YOUR OWN. GOOD LUUUUUUCK!
GIVEN THAT THOSE WITH HALF A BRAIN WOULD LIKE TO REMAIN AS INCOGNITO AS THE BLOOD SUCKERS OR THE WOLF FUCKERS, WE FIGURED THAT YOU MIGHT WANT AN ALTERNATIVE TO GROWING STRONGER THAT DOESN'T INVOLVE BEING THROWN BEHIND BARS LIKE IN YOUR TEENS
Oh fuck off.
YOU ALSO MIGHT HAVE NOTICED THAT THERE ARE SOME OPTIONS IN THE SHOP THAT HAVE BEEN KEPT LOCKED AWAY LIKE YOUR VIRGINITY SHOULD HAVE.
Bobby, I was going to stab you the moment I get my hands on you, now I'm going to break my foot up your ass while I make you sing Hallelujah
WELL DON'T WORRY, NOW YOU HAVE ANOTHER METHOD TO UNLOCK NEW THINGS FROM THE SHOP, OR BETTER YET, STEALING IT YOURSELF LIKE THE KLEPTOMANIAC YOU HIDE INSIDE!
INSTANT QUESTS ARE NOW AVAILABLE TO BE TAKEN, NO TIME SHALL PASS WHILE YOU INITIATE SUCH QUESTS, SO NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT THAT POOR SCHMUCK THAT YOU KIDNAPPED DYING IN THE TRUNK LIKE A DOG WOULD IF YOU LEAVE HIM IN THE CAR DURING A HOT DAY.
OF COURSE, THERE ARE OTHER BENEFITS TO THESE BENEFITS, BUT I THINK THAT I'M GOING TO LET YOU FIGURE THOSE OUT ON YOUR OWN. GOOD LUUUUUUCK!
I don't know why, but I was sure that long 'luck' was said with a creepy laugh. This damn thing seemed like a sadist that got off on torturing people.
Yeah, doubt that this was Bobby boy posting these. He seemed to be the kind of guy that just hated his job instead of having a god complex. No way he would be able to keep that shit hidden when he had me there alone with him in that room.
Now… what oh what could these Instant Quest's provide?
I reached out to start inspecting, when my finger stopped just a few centimeters away from the screen.
No, right now, I had other things going on, and even if this thing stopped time here, I didn't feel comfortable just leaving them alone after about a week.
Besides, I was out at a bar, watching Muscles make a drink while Isabelle waited nearby.
I made sure to keep myself from drinking myself under the table, no matter how much I wanted to right now, instead relying on Esuna before I got too drunk. Guess that getting drunk counted as poison to the White Magic spell. Best part, no more hangovers!
Isabelle was somewhere in the back, dressed a lot more conservatively while wearing a face that was definitely not hers. That Illusion Mask was definitely one of the best things I've ever bought.
Of course, I had another on my face, choosing a face that was closer to what I used to look like in my previous life.
The night had stretched on, and Muscles had stared at me like she was thinking of shooting me right then and there when I'd passed on a note alongside the cash for the last drink.
Turned out her name was Brenda, thank you name tags, and she had an absolutely wonderful smile that contained more warmth than you would think from the large stoic woman.
It wasn't until the last person walked out the door, and she had flipped the sign over that she finally looked at me with angry, suspicious eyes.
Props to her, though, she managed to keep from looking at me the whole night.
When the ticking clock started to get awkward, I decided to be the one to break the ice. "So, how's Wallace doing? All the bones heal ok?"
Brenda was very good at imitating a statue, because she didn't even blink at my question or move eye contact, just staring straight into my soul like she wanted to strangle my living body with it.
"The only reason I'm not shooting you is because I saw you walk in when the sun was still up." She said evenly, sitting down at a stool that she apparently kept behind the bar counter, pulling over a glass and filling it up with tequila.
Yeah, that's why I came in when the sun was still up. Paranoia kept you alive, but it also made it real hard to make new friends or allies. Then again, betrayal is also a very normal thing in this fucking place.
"I probably would have caught the bullet. I mean, I think I can do it now. Might bruise my fingers though." Finally, I managed to make her mouth pop open, just a little, for a split second before she caught her break in stoicism.
"I thought you were a Mage." She asked.
"I prefer multiclassing." I answered back evenly, and all I got for my witty comeback was a confused blink.
"Mia." Isabelle said as she sat down next to me. Ah, right. Don't get distracted just to fuck with people idiot.
"How's Wallace doing?" I ask again.
"Completely healed. Not a single broken bone, bruise, and even the holes on his neck are gone. He didn't turn into a vampire the next night." Unspoken was the fact that I had been right, but I could see the admission in her eyes. "He remembers most of the night, the Vampire drank some blood, but didn't get as much as we thought."
I nodded, sighing in relief. Wallace surviving was a weight that I had been carrying since we visited them. Every part of me wanted to swing back on them, but they needed time and patience before I showed up again, otherwise they might be a bit more open to the thought of giving me lead poisoning.
"Who are you?" More importantly, I heard what she really wanted to ask. What are you.
"Someone with a lot of information, but not enough people to do much with it. I could deal with the symptoms, but the infection is too deep for me to do anything about it." I admitted somewhat hollowly.
Was I strong enough now to probably rip through most Vampires? Yeah probably.
All of them, including their Ghouls, and then whatever other monsters were lurking in the night?
No.
I needed people. Resources, allies, a place to sleep, and more importantly, those that can make sure that a different faction doesn't come in after the place has been cleaned up. If the Sabbat are wiped out, the Camarilla are going to be more than happy to come in and take over after I'm done.
"Why?" She asked. And while I could ask the clarification, I didn't really need to when she probably had way more questions for me than I might have answers.
"Because I don't want the world to end." I answered simply, the weight of… well everything that might go wrong hanging over my head, my body sagging for a split second before I managed to get hold of it again.
Anything could cause it. Too many deaths awakening the sleeping grandchildren of Cain, any of the various Garou Tribes falling to the Wyrm and speeding up the clock of the world, the war between the mages causing reality to break and leaving only those who survive to pick up the pieces, Changelings abandoning the world because the ghosts of dream and hope finally vanished from the world.
Brenda takes what I say, internalizes it, and nods. As if that's all that I had to say for her to understand. A bit freaky if I'm being honest.
"How common are these Vampires that can take over people's minds?" She asked.
"More common than anyone would like." And there are other things in the world that can overtake minds, but I wasn't going to tell her that quite yet. "I have a gift if you would like it." I asked as her mouth twitched into a frown before returning into a thin line as I reached into my Inventory and pulled out a couple of boxes of flame ammo. Real magical ammunition, not normal incendiary ammunition.
While Runes were definitely useful, I couldn't exactly make them without specific materials and actually being a smith. And… well-being a smith means having a Forge and those weren't that easy to get, especially not when you're trying to lie low. I might have to try and make a poor man's version later out of a barrel, rusted car, and an old piece of rebar, but that was for later.
"Fire rounds?"
"I got some other ones too." I said as I pulled out a box of .308s and .45's. "Fire is one of the Vampire's weaknesses, and you'd be surprised how often one would be able to survive getting shot by a normal bullet. Though, these are more for if you get ambushed rather than in a clear fight with them. Close quarters, go with a shotgun instead." I started listing off, leaning back in my seat while she went through the various boxes of ammo.
I was about 2500GP points lower after that particular shopping spree, and then I bought a few skills for Isabelle.
Meaning that I was down to just barely above 1000GP.
I might have to go into one of those Instant Quests just to make sure that I didn't go broke.
"I'm giving these to you, because at the end of the day, a war can't be fought with only two people, especially not against something as big as these Vampires." I said quietly, Bertha examining me and Isabelle both with a much less guarded expression than before.
"How big is this? How many are there?" She asked.
"The worst thing about the Vampires is just how easily they can hide amongst us. All they need during the day is somewhere their useless body can rest before the sun comes up, and they can do whatever it is that they do. You bump into them in the middle of the night, and most of the time you'd be none the wiser." I said quietly. "The true danger of them, though, is that they can gift their power to normal humans by giving them their blood. This is what Ghouls are."
She hid it well, but I could see the fear and shock in her eyes. "What are the effects?"
"Increased strength, speed, durability, some of them can even learn the Disciplines, vampiric powers, that most Kindred know. Kindred being what Vampires call themselves. Though, Ghouls tend to have weaker versions of Bloodlines, along with being limited to how much Vitae they keep in their system. Vitae being the name that Vampires call their own blood."
"What happens if a vampire drinks another vampires blood." She asked curiously, gesturing towards the bar, and then filling up a shot with some tequila for me.
"That's called the Diablerie. Most vampires are very much against the act, though the ones that run this city don't particularly give a fuck. It's considered to be one of the worst act in the Camarilla's eyes. The Diablerie is a… potent experience. Drinking another Vampire dry tends to grant quite a few abilities to Vampires, one of them being an increase to all their abilities and reducing their generation to whatever Vampire they decided to chow down on like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Best advice I can give you to deal with one? Don't." I said as she filled up another glass and we downed a shot, Isabelle having a glass of wine in her hands.
I had a feeling that if she had a pen and paper she would be writing down notes like her friend scrawny did the other night.
"For someone so worried about information getting out about them, you were fine with using her name just now." Brenda said towards Isabelle, staring at the blonde who appeared to be a brunette with different facial features.
"And how sure are you that the name we used is the same one that people would find in reports?" Isabelle asked with a smile, her French accent gone like the wind.
Brenda grunted in affirmation downing another drink.
"So, what now? Just going to disappear into the night after offering some advice and weapons?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I wanted to let you know that we're going to be attacking a Sabbat home." I said evenly, taking out a map of Florida and sprawling it out onto the table. In various spots, I had circled around certain buildings and areas surrounding the city, just on the outskirts but still within the city bounds. "While I would love nothing more than to actually take time to teach you how to do all of this, we don't have much time before they start realizing that something is going wrong, and shit starts moving. Since you've managed to take down a few, I'm willing to bet that you and your friend can handle a vampire or two?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
She gave me a stiff nod. "Dad was a soldier and made sure that I knew how to handle myself. Brad, the guy you met last night, is decent with a gun and knows how to handle explosives. Never in the military, but he said that he liked learning how to do stuff as a kid."
I nodded. Good. That was going to help with some things.
Glaring down at the map, I let out a huff. "Give me a week, at most, to get some things ready before we get anything started. If we're going to launch this thing, then I'm going to need to get some new tools in our box." Then an idea came into my head. One that made me feel like an idiot for not realizing sooner.
Sure, I wasn't going to give them access to the system, but what about some other uses that the Instant Dungeon's could provide?
"Though… I might come to you and Brad in a few days for a little training. Might have some new toys to play with too. I'll let you know." With that, I downed one more shot and gave the woman a smile. "Thanks for the drink."
With that, I cast Haste on both myself and Isabelle as we left the building, rushing towards our car as we waited for the spell to release before we started to drive back home.
"Are you sure that this is the best option?" Isabelle asked again, though, it was definitely a fair question given that we weren't exactly going out for a carton of milk or anything.
"If we want to get our hands on the whole White/Black Magic combo then we're going to have to do whatever an Instant Quest is." I said distractedly as I shoved everything that we had in the fridge into our inventory. Just because time was stopped on our end, didn't mean that the time we spent wherever this was taking us was going to be a quick and easy trip.
Note to self, see if I can get anything that can take us somewhere fast.
I also need to work on… well a lot of shit.
Sigh why did I have to get stuck in a universe where the end of the world is multiple choice with only the worst options available?
"If those spells are as useful as this Heal spell has been, then it would behoove us to retrieve it, wouldn't it?"
"Thing is, we're going into this blind, so I have no idea what else we might run into while we're there." I admitted as I brought up the "Instant Quest" menu and typed in Black Mage and White Mage spells into the search bar. A nice nifty little feature.
Thing is, when I typed both "White Mage" and "Black Mage" spells into the search options, all I got was a quest full of questions marks and one descriptor.
DUE TO INPUT REWARDS, THE QUEST HAS BEEN RANDOMIZED AND PAIRED WITH ALONG ANOTHER OBJECTIVE THAT WILL BE RANDOMIZED.
TRUE OBJECTIVES AND FURTHER REWARDS WILL BE RELAYED WHEN QUEST HAS BEEN TAKEN
TRUE OBJECTIVES AND FURTHER REWARDS WILL BE RELAYED WHEN QUEST HAS BEEN TAKEN
Well that was good to know.
Before I could give myself time to think about it, I clicked 'Y' and reality changed.
My shitty old apartment was replaced with a literal shitty sewers, the smell hitting my nose, and immediately reminding me of some places that I used to hide in on some of the… scarier nights in my teenage years.
Thing is, these sewers were a lot… bigger than I was expecting. Bigger, grander, with stone walkways, arches, and only the occasional metal piping.
"Damn, I'm sorry that I brought you here Isabelle." I immediately panicked when I didn't hear her respond.
I whip my head around and start swearing in Spanish when I realize the French woman hadn't been transported alongside me. Great. Was this one of those moments where she had to be holding my hand or touching me for the fucking quest to work?
QUEST ADDED
FIND THE SCROLLS OF BLACK AND WHITE MAGIC
SOMEWHERE IN THE GARAMSYTHE WATEREWAYS THE SCROLLS BEHIND THE WONDERS OF SPELLCRAFT ARE HIDDEN. FIND THEM FOR YOURSELF, AND DEAL WITH ANY COMPLICATIONS THAT MIGHT COME OF IT.
REWARD?
+50,000 EXP
+50,000 GP
NEW INSTANT QUESTS ADDED
NEW AREAS UNLOCKED FOR FUTURE SETTING QUEST
RIPPLES IN THE SETTING YOU ARE IN
FIND THE SCROLLS OF BLACK AND WHITE MAGIC
SOMEWHERE IN THE GARAMSYTHE WATEREWAYS THE SCROLLS BEHIND THE WONDERS OF SPELLCRAFT ARE HIDDEN. FIND THEM FOR YOURSELF, AND DEAL WITH ANY COMPLICATIONS THAT MIGHT COME OF IT.
REWARD?
+50,000 EXP
+50,000 GP
NEW INSTANT QUESTS ADDED
NEW AREAS UNLOCKED FOR FUTURE SETTING QUEST
RIPPLES IN THE SETTING YOU ARE IN
Wtf did that mean?
Now, I already know what some of the first comments are going to be, so let's get this out of the way. Yes, I know that the Instant Quests/Dungeons aren't something that many of you are going to like, no it is not going to change. Forgive me for being blunt, but I went into this with some ideas already in mind, and know that many of them are not going to be popular.
I am fine with criticism, fine with if I didn't write something properly, if you dislike the characters or how things went, but sometimes we authors go with an option that isn't going to be to everyone's taste so I decided to just rip the bandaid off something that I knew most people weren't going to like.
This doesn't mean that we are going to have dozens of chapters in an Instant Quest, though some might take longer than others or serve a different option.
I did say that I took a lot of inspiration from Project Gamer, though I'm going to make some changes, and probably taking a few ideas that Mister Ficser had while making my own spin on them.
BTW, if anyone is worried about threat ratings and the like, reminder that while WoD can be very good at normal street level stuff, there is some cosmic level shit either running around, hiding, or sleeping. Just look at what the Ravnos Antedeluvian did to Bangladesh.
I am fine with criticism, fine with if I didn't write something properly, if you dislike the characters or how things went, but sometimes we authors go with an option that isn't going to be to everyone's taste so I decided to just rip the bandaid off something that I knew most people weren't going to like.
This doesn't mean that we are going to have dozens of chapters in an Instant Quest, though some might take longer than others or serve a different option.
I did say that I took a lot of inspiration from Project Gamer, though I'm going to make some changes, and probably taking a few ideas that Mister Ficser had while making my own spin on them.
BTW, if anyone is worried about threat ratings and the like, reminder that while WoD can be very good at normal street level stuff, there is some cosmic level shit either running around, hiding, or sleeping. Just look at what the Ravnos Antedeluvian did to Bangladesh.
Welcome to the big leagues Mia. Better hope you can deal with Cain's atrocius parenting skills.
KillerFish
Grumpy Owl, Bird Lawyer
Eh, he's busy driving a cab in Los Angeles right now, according to the Bloodlines games.
im not a fan of miniquests but mister ficser solved some of my problems with them by rescuing people out of them. my only problem with this stuff is that they result in most stories in just a powerup. thats it. a waste of chapters that could have had an impact on the wider world and characters. but if you can get people out into the main setting,or abig goup from the mainsetting in, to have interactions and experience growth,i have zero problems.
Not that my problems are yours
Not that my problems are yours
- Location
- Missouri
My only real concern is length and frequency; spending so much time on one IQ after another that the supposedly primary narrative becomes a framework for the dives.
Krazyfan1
Worrying for the future.
- Location
- Australia
forgetting about Blood Bonds i see?
an the whole soul swallowing thing.
That's way too much for someone who just got into vampire killing. Knowing they eat souls would probably break their will to fight.