Dr. Game N Stein

Dysgraphic and sleepy gaming boy. I write a lot, but my writing may not always come out spelled correctly, or I  may use the wrong words, but I do my best.I brainstorm story or character ideas for D&D a lot, so expect a lot of that I guess

[drgamenstein]

Idk if this is a "Hot Take" to the Saw Fandom, but I have to say this.

Saw 3 and Saw 6 are the worst in the series, because they're each one half of a good Saw movie.

Saw 3 had the problem of nothing being connected. Even though Jeff on paper is probably the most sympathetic person to be put in Jigsaw's games, that's kind of it, he's just a person in the game, he's not a victim. The whole movie is supposed to be about Jeff learning to forgive and move on, a lesson he never learns, and against everything the series was about, it results in him being literally the only person alive after the game is done. The actual victims of the movie have no chance of survival, and the outcome would have been the same if not better if Jeff had walked away, which he was seemingly free to do the whole time

Saw 6 on the other hand had the opposite issue. The traps in 6 are (in my opinion) great some of the best and most memorable aside from 5 or 2. The problem with 6 is that Jill and Hoffman, and their story are way more dumb than John and Amanda, while on the other side William and his coworkers are awful and it's easy to root against all of them. The best part of 6 is the reveal at the end that William is being judged by the family of some he's responsible for killing.

If you took the plot from Saw 3, and put a sympathetic main character, interesting villains, and a game where one person decides the fate of everyone else, and gave it 6's trap design where many more people could have survived, they're all dependant on the MC for survival, have a chance to actually explain themselves and earn his forgiveness, then at the end reveal that it was all leading up to a point where it has the othe victims judge the MC and whether or not they learned their lesson (which William didn't may make a separate post on that) then all of it would have made for a top tier Saw Movie, instead of two stinky ones.

[drgamenstein]

First of all *ahem* BRING BACK RADIO PLAYS/AUDIO DRAMAS.

They're a novel way to bring attention to short stories and smaller authors in a novel way. They're easy to digest for drivers or students needing background noise, and the production of something Audio only is something truly unique that film and books can't really imitate. Something about everything but the visuals being there is great stimulation to the imagination.

Now to contextualize that rant, I just finished the I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream Radio Play, and while going through the "Hate" monologue between AM and Ted, one line really stuck out, and that's "1.8 million miles of electric circuits in wafer thin layers spead throughout my complex" which made me remember this was written during the Cold War in the 1960s with then modern computers as reference...

Guys I think AM had like a Terabyte of Harddrive space, at most.

[drgamenstein]

I have no idea what possessed me to think of it, but in the book The Princess Bride, Vizzini is literally the only connection between high fantasy and the real world, simply by referencing Asia and Sicily. Then the moment he dies, the story really kicks up the high fantasy elements, like the heroes never dying, the giant Rodents, magic, returning from death etc. It's like that one character represents the barrier of the suspension of disbelief, and the moment he's out, we're fully on board and ready for anything the plot throws at us.

[drgamenstein]

So, writing this chronicle, and my brother and I came across a question that we can't find an answer to, so I figured I'd put it to public opinion even though it's probably something that varies between storytellers.

The Ravnos clan bane where they can't sleep in the same place twice, how would that work with an RV? You're moving constantly, but you're also in the same bed every day, so would that work?

[drgamenstein]

I said I wouldn't post it with tags and I didn't, but if anyone does actually read my previous post and goes "where the hell did this come from, this isn't about games," um... as embarrassing as it sounds, even though I think about that shit a lot in my daily life, the thing that finally made me put it out there was writing a Vampire: The Masquerade Chronicle...

So I have a character in this chronicle who is my story's Anarch Baron, and also pseudo Sheriff for the Camarilla, even though he's not a part of the Camarilla.

Anyway, he's a Banu Haqim Methuselah and I wanted to give him some depth and not just write "Indian man strong" and move on, so I gave myself a long, long, loooooong history lesson on India, it's many kingdoms throughout the ages, and year, it was a lot, but still really worth it.

I'll post his full story in a bit, i'm working on the other key officers within the Barony as well, a child childre from the Salubri, that is being guarded by the barony, a Ministry woman and hospital owner who deals in secrets and operates a drug trade, and a Ravnos, who I want to explore more, still trying to figure him out, because I want him to be the main information source for my players, while also playing with the bane of having to track him down each night, since he's always moving.

Also if anyone sees this and has recommendations, I'm interested at looking into art commissions for my characters and players. The players, btw are a Samedi, stage performer, as their info broker, a Lasombre high roller as their income source and a Gangrel Newborn they found staked in the desert. The Chronicle is being written around the Las Vegas and Reno area, which I chose out of familiarity with the region, a unique location, and being somewhere in lore that is more malleable for story-telling, since the only named character is the Camarilla Prince and it's not really known if he's even still alive now. Last I saw he was only mentioned in the 20th anniversary books, but any other info I missed would also be welcome. Since the Vegas area is very open, and also close to several other landmarks and major cities, it's also a good location, I think, for keeping a varied environment, since the three PCs in question aren't really from clans comfortable with staying still.

[drgamenstein]

If I may have a weird rant about something weighing on me, with no tags, and just to get it out of my system, with no intention of offending anyone. As a white man, with north/eastern European heritage, from a non-christian denominational background, and who's family came to america either as indentured servants to the Mob, or were war refugees from WWII, I feel as though the discussion of race, racism and Racial politics in America is being severely oversimplified in our country on all sides, and that's why it brings up so much tension.

I feel like there are a good portion of people who saw "race" in my prompt and "white man" in my self description, and thought "this guy should really not be talking," and to you I say, you're who I'm referring to when I say the problem is being oversimplified.

The thing that nobody on either side wants to admit, is that racism isn't about bone structure or levels of melanin, but it's something deep rooted in our core instincts, and that's something we all share. The reason why the concentration of racial crime and tension in America is so high is because we are the most diverse country in the world, not just in terms of continental races, but also in terms of racial Ethnicities.

Humans by nature are a tribal species, and we crave community, but in for all of us throughout history, war and violence was common between different tribes, and due to cultural differences that makes it nearly impossible to fully track your lineage if you're from a ethnic group who used oral and artistic traditions to pass down your lineage instead of written. The reason why we have a black history month instead of several individual days like with Irish or Italian heritage is sadly because of those inter-tribal wars, more so than the slave trade, which is hard to say and probably really hard to hear, but is sadly how it is, because the African slave trade started when warlords would conquer other nations, and sell the people they didn't want to take care of to Europeans in exchange for weapons to win more wars, sadly meaning most African American heritage begins in America, after their African nation was rendered extinct.

This isn't exclusively an African issue, though, and that's why I started this by saying it's a more complex issue than we give it credit for. Because African Americans are not the only race in this country to have their culture rendered completely extinct, leaving any remaining descendants to guess and try to rebuild their culture. Asia has too many of these to count honestly and is incredibly hard to map out, considering how China in the modern day treats its own history. North Korea has Propaganda mimicking Nazi and other Eugenicist Propaganda to try and illustrate their superiority to South Korean Citizens, the Middle East is the Cradle of humanity and has been in constant war since the dawn of our species on this planet. Like with the many ancient nations of Asia, American peoples both north and south had many different extinctions to the point that it became a part of their codified religion in South America, and now, almost nobody refers to themselves as "American" and only a few call themselves "Native," a term which I don't think I've ever heard used to refer to South Americans outside of the untouched peoples. As for the Europeans, most of their extinct ethnic groups are either also still being discriminated against to this day, get crowned on as "weirdos" and memes, or nobody even knows what they are or what happened to them. Nords, Vikings, Celts, Armenian, Romani, Wicca, all terms we can recognize, but all either no longer exist, or if they do, are such a vague terms that most don't know what they actually are. There are a lot of people who recognize the term Gypsy, but most don't recognize it in america as a slur, and it's almost been romanticized to refer to "world-wise traveler," instead of a nomadic people that were almost completely exterminated in the holocaust.

I need to cut myself off, or else this will become a very long lesson of world history, like I said Asia had too many extinct cultures to count, I glossed over the Middle East, and I barely touched on Europe, but I literally have sat here typing for 2 hours, and had to edit this down to cut long long diatribes about the waring states, Egypt, Persia, India, Rome and Greek Kings. Like Sparta was an actual country, with a king, independent from Greece but sharing a common religion, and this sentence is why I needed to stop myself.

Look, race is a highly complex issue, but continuing the conflict by shutting down the conversation with phrases like "you don't understand, you can't understand, etc" only serves to prolong the conflict more than resolve. Racial and ethnic tension, violence, and the pursuit of superiority is something common among all modern cultures, so while you may be correct in saying "you don't understand," you should also recognize that same statement can be applied directly to you. None of us can or will ever truly understand each other's history or the feelings that come with them outside of our own communities, but accepting that gap and listening is the only step toward build a new community rather than shutting others down.

The hard truth is that because America was the final continent to be inhabited, even by natives, for 99% of us in this country, if you take any of our family trees back far enough, we're only here because we weren't wanted where we came from, so we need to be welcomed here.

[drgamenstein]

My personal conspiracy theory is that there are cookbooks published between 1950 and 1980 that were secretly anti-drug propaganda, made to make people think drugs destroyed your sense of taste. This shit is the kind of thing someone who's never done drugs before would say, "This was made by someone of drugs."

As someone who has done drugs, eating things with vibrant colors or shit that jiggles, felt dangerous.

[drgamenstein]

I just had this idea while trying to come up with things, such as havens, prey, dominions, etc, for my players and came up with one that I wanted to share for public opinion.

The player in question is from Clan Hecata of the Samedi Bloodline and took the variant bane Decay.

The idea he and I were working on as a haven was an old, rundown, and collapsed factory in which he resides in the basement. Humans have given up on this plot of land as "unstable to build on" after multiple industry buildings were established, and all collapsed after excessive damage and decay to the foundational supports. The basement he lives in has been fitted with and access tunnel to the sewer systems, so he has a way in and out, and he has a ghoul tailor that personally fits him for new clothing every few weeks, in exchange for a blood fix. The ghoul doesn't show as much decay as his victims would, since they're only exposed to each other briefly to exchange clothing and blood.

His character role in the group would be along the lines of information broker and party-going socialite. Covering his bane with elaborate costumes that are mistaken for artistic statements since he only wears them once. He's known in the human world as a fashion designer, but also, in his personal time, is a social media star, posting build tutorials for all of his costumes, the day after he's seen wearing them. Nobody questions him, always wearing gloves and never showing his face, thinking he just wants privacy. Many attempts have been made to dox him by trolls, but he always uploads from different locations and IP addresses, like he's using a different device for every upload. He uses Nosferatu contacts to help him spoof the Metadata in his content.

[drgamenstein]

So, I thought about doing another list of short character summaries for different Bloodlines, like I did with clans, but first of all, there are far more Bloodlines, so it wouldn't just be a single post, and second, the first one that came to mind were the Blood Brothers, which I think are both horrifying and neat. The difficulty with this Bloodline comes from them essentially being 1 mind in 2 bodies, but also not... what I find interesting is how simplicity is the last word to describe it. They're like a Venn diagram of that and a hive mind, with a splash of body horror for good measure.

The other problem is that when I settled on a theme for a pair, it got dark... really dark. I also got way too into it and wrote way more than a character profile, and instead made a sort of short story about a symbiotic relationship between twins in a mutually abusive relationship. One being an aggressive abuser, and the other a parasitic abuser. This fucked up dynamic, is what made them ideal for the Nlood Brother ritual, and made that whole situation much worse, by heightening their psychopathic tendencies. It was one of the darkest things I drafted, but I may actually expand on it.

[drgamenstein]

So, going back to some of my older posts about character and setting TTRPGs let's talk about Vampire: the Masquerade. Here's real quick, a fun or stupid way to play each of the 13 clans. First though, if anyone somehow finds this who isn't familiar with the VtM lore, I'll offer a bastardized version of the disclaimer the core rulebook does; there's no such thing as a morally good PC in this game, you're going to be playing as a killer, stalker, monster, however you want to put it. Vampires are monstrous reflections of humanity, and as such can emphasize certain traits that are seen as distasteful or wrong. This isn't an excuse to be an overt and openly bigoted asshole at the table, and no GM or player should ever tolerate real world hate speech at the table when speaking OoC. We cool? Cool.

Ventrue: a new age shop owner, who sells homemade essential oils, skin care products and crystals that mark potential targets for siring based on the virtues each clan upholds. They're cursed blood makes them obsessed with very specific scents, meaning they can't feed on someone unless they're wearing something that makes them smell appealing.

Toreador: a plastic surgeon, who's idea of beauty is the imperfection of the human form. They run a budget clinic and are able to avoid losing their license due to malpractice, because they have a close personal bond with the Nosferatu, and love to skincraft them into an appearance that while still leaving them deformed, could pass as injuries or illnesses, making them less likely to violate the Masquerade. These favors give them connections to blackmail and extort anyone, enough that they can hire a Ventrue lawyer to protect them.

Gangrel: a Pational Park Ranger, who may or may not have connections to many, MANY missing 411 cases. They hold a position of neutrality between almost every faction, by upholding the laws of the Camarilla, by keeping the masquerade intact, while simultaniously cultivating their own open-air human meat restaurant. A safe place for werewolves, and other kindred to engage in their most animalistic urges, without fear of leaving evidence behind.

Malkavian: an autistic dark web information broker, that somehow knows what their customers want long before they even make contact. They have a habit of logging every email, password or other piece of identifying information that pops into their head. Breaking the fourth wall, the player could improve this by listening to business, economics or true crime podcasts during sessions, and talking as if it's a conversation they're having to what's going on at that point in game.

Tremere: a character who wants to form their own autonomous enclave, separate from any form of government be it human or kindred based. This wilderness commune is under constant surveillance by several human law enforcement agencies, and is publicly recognized as a cult, though they are petitioning to be recognized as a religion. They sire high ranking members of their organization, only after several years of indoctrination, at which point the Frog has boiled over and been reduced to a fine broth. The appeal of the cult to outsiders are the opportunity for travel, under the guise of medical and disaster relief efforts. All members are also frequently asked to donate blood for "those in need." Internally they don't believe in any religion, the player could make the argument that Kain wasn't cursed by God, but instead was the first evolutionary offshoot from mankind, and they internally view each vampire clan as related in much the same way as humans are related to other apes. This internalized vampirism racism while a massive negative trait, is effectively used by studying each and every clan solely for the purpose of learning how best to manipulate them.

Bruja: (this one's shorter than all the rest) During life they were a decorated cold war era military veteran, who was honorably discharged with injuries after certain government experiments. After their siring they have dedicated their un-life to spreading good old fashioned western values to the oppressed and impoverished parts of the world as a PMC.

Nosferatu: since almost every nosferatu have the same MO, preferred hiding spots and methods of travel, I think this clan is best defined by they're personality and view of the world. The owner of an Incel forum, who uses it both to unironically post their own thoughts and feelings, but to gather info from their users about all the Chads and Staceys in need of some punishment for their arrogance. They also frequently browse social media, and may or may not be responsible for at least a few throwaway accounts responsible for doxxing public figures. They are an absolute bitch for drama, and spend their downtime binging tea channels and Beauty-tubers but can't see the irony of this hobby.

Lasombre: an old fashioned head of a boston mafia group. He's made a fortune exploiting the working class and extorting the needy for decades, and running a successful shipyard and fishing company. His preferred targets for siring are dock workers, and local gang members that he sees as either beneficial to his criminal empire, or someone that his enemies would hate to lose. He has a unique point of view among most of the kindred, in that he doesn't discriminate among humans, Vampires or oan of the other creatures and organizations around him. They're all of equal value in his eyes, that value being equivalent to a character pip from the Game of Life, meaning tiny l, worthless bits of plastic, that take up space and are only worthy of notice when they directly impact him. His closest friend is actually a human butler, that picks out his clothes, make sure he's in proper order, and takes care of him. He will never sire this friend, as they are fully aware of his true nature and have asked him kindly to not do so. This blatant violation of the masquerade is barely tolerated as an open secret, since covering this particular leak would cause more trouble than just leaving it alone.

Tzimisce: a geneticist, who's network has a hand in every animal centric organization in the world, whether it's pet care, breeding, meat production, pageantry, racing, or law enforcement training, they can somehow be linked to it. They are fascinated by genealogy and genetics, obsessed with the true history of the world and want to prove the lineage of every clan and bloodline, simply for the satisfaction of having that knowledge. They were a successful dog breeder in life and now may or may not be practicing human and clan breeding in secret. They have a strange fascination with the Caitiff, and are regularly observed by many, acting friendly with these undesirables. They have a genuine love for animals, and would never harm any of their precious creatures, but see humans as lower than scum, utterly disgusting parasites hellbent on destroying their precious mother nature. They have no desire to sire an heir, unless eventually forced to do so, have no feelings whatsoever toward the idea of harming humans, seeing their acts as mundane or even justified, and this hatred goes so far that they frequently push themselves to the brink of frenzy just to avoid drinking from these vile creatures. Before their embrace, they had a pet dog that they loved more than anything in the world, but sadly killed during their first frenzy. They keep their friends collar on them at all times, despite the guilt they feel, it's the only thing that gives them comfort and let's them sleep at night.

Hecata: (I thought of this as an experienced player, or storyteller's PC) an elderly person, though not ancient. A member of a long lived and wealthy family dating back possibly to the Methusala. A family man, with an actual family, they sired before their embrace, with the knowledge that they will one day need to make arrangements for their children to be embraced. You take on the role of a mentor figure, teaching them the ways of the kindred, necromancy, and hunting, but are planning to, at the end of their training, have more promising of your spawn, diablerize the other.

Banu Haqim: a vigilante serial killer, think Vampire Punisher, or Dexter. Seeking out rogue kindred who've strayed from their respective code, regardless I'd they're Camarilla, Sabatt, or Anarch. The kindred you hunt are blatant violators of the masquerade and do so without even the little bit of control the Sabatt has over its members. More than anything, they are the biggest threats to kindred society as a whole and expose us all to the threat of human exposure. They are the perfect target for one such as yourself, both as self-proclaimed peacekeepers, and to satiate your own clans curse. It's your solemn duty to ensure that no evidence of kindred society is left behind.

Ravnos: a backpacker, spelunker and base jumper. They are a very popular Social Media personality and travel vlogger that enjoys documenting cave exploration and nighttime adventures into the wilderness. They know all the best tourist spots, what every kind of human blood tastes like, and won't shut the hell up about how they need to take you to Venice to try genuine Venican blood fresh from the source. They have a lot of annoying habits, and frequently humble brag about their enlightened un-life, but are generally good company and easy to get along with. You still wouldn't call them a friend though. They're the type of person that always sleeps over when they visit, but you can never remember them specifically asking if they could crash on your couch.

Ministry: You are a bio-terrorist. After your embrace, you took an interest in medical sciences for all the wrong reasons. Fascinated with your new undeath, and immunity to human illness, you start to question the limits of your new undead body, and decide to push it to new limits, concocting plagues, viruses and diseases and testing them on unsuspecting vampire populations. Occasionally, maybe, sure, some human populations get sick as well, pandemics, happen, and hundreds of thousands die each time you conduct a test, but that's the price of good science.

Caitiff: literally just don't play Caitiff. It's hard to come up with a creative or unique story for this "Clan" since they are effectively nobodies. The best comparison to be made I guess would be that Caitiff are the vampire equivalent of that weird conspiracy theorist who works in retail, has a substance abuse problem and is constantly trying to get you and all his other "work buds" to rise up and unionize against the man, but doesn't have an actual plan or any understanding on how any of that works.

Thin-bloods: Why is this a clan we can pick? Who is picking this one? Don't do it.

[macabre00danse]

Booo, Caitiff and Thinbloods are cool. Their circumstances vary widely and they have the most options for what they can do, supernaturally or otherwise. Here's a few off the top of my head:

Thinblood embraced by a Nosferatu who thinks all vampires are ugly until she runs into a mixed Coterie. She sets up an underground business selling alchemical potions that allow Kindred to temporarily change their physical appearance.

Caitiff embraced by a Malkavian who is unaware he doesn't actually have his sire's clan bane and thinks his shape-shifting powers are hallucinations. Eventually someone explains to him what Protean is.

Thinblood who can walk around in the sun. She builds up a catalog of favors and contacts by running errands for other Kindred during the day. She's also a SoundCloud rapper.

[drgamenstein]

I don't hate Caitiff or Thinbloods by far. Just personally, they feel more geared toward the storyteller side of the game, more than the player. It just feels like the majority of books talking about them is mostly about how everyone hate and distrust them, so they work best either as NPCs or when the whole table is comprised of them. I do like them though

[drgamenstein]

I’ve been brainstorming a character for a while now, and want some input. This would require a fairly higher level to achieve as a PC, but could also be used as an NPC, and at the very least, could be a fun story to include in a homebrew campaign. I don’t know, I’m brainstorming because I’ve got nothing but free time, so here’s my thought.

A Neutral Good Wizard/Cleric who prioritizes Necromancy above all else. He doesn’t care about the effects his magic has on his health, nor does he care what others may say or think of his practices. His goal is to  raise the the spirits of fallen heroes and help give them peace by giving them a second chance at the glory they failed to attain. He’ll keep doing this until he’s put to rest himself. His method is to speak to the spirits before fully raising them, learning their history and goals before either cleansing their evil, or raising them for a second chance.

For his history, I was thinking of starting him as a Cleric, who begins hearing the voices of his fallen allies, then begins to dedicate his life to helping them from beyond the grave. 

Necromancy is usually seen as exclusively evil, so I’m interested in playing with the very small bit of good that can come from it. I also like the idea of having a character who would be widely considered an evil criminal, that is actually on the good side of the spectrum. I think it would be fun to have those interactions with other players especially other paladins or clerics who may take offense to what he’s doing based on their codes. It may be a weird way to put it, but it would be a sort of morally gray way to do good.

[drgamenstein]

Girlfriend: "so what's your most toxic trait?"

Me: "I always set my TV volume at an obnoxious level."

Girlfriend: "like too loud."

Me: "19"

Girlfriend: *proceeds to beat me to death.*

[drgamenstein]

So, going back to some of my older posts about character and setting TTRPGs let's talk about Vampire: the Masquerade. Here's real quick, a fun or stupid way to play each of the 13 clans. First though, if anyone somehow finds this who isn't familiar with the VtM lore, I'll offer a bastardized version of the disclaimer the core rulebook does; there's no such thing as a morally good PC in this game, you're going to be playing as a killer, stalker, monster, however you want to put it. Vampires are monstrous reflections of humanity, and as such can emphasize certain traits that are seen as distasteful or wrong. This isn't an excuse to be an overt and openly bigoted asshole at the table, and no GM or player should ever tolerate real world hate speech at the table when speaking OoC. We cool? Cool.

Ventrue: a new age shop owner, who sells homemade essential oils, skin care products and crystals that mark potential targets for siring based on the virtues each clan upholds. They're cursed blood makes them obsessed with very specific scents, meaning they can't feed on someone unless they're wearing something that makes them smell appealing.

Toreador: a plastic surgeon, who's idea of beauty is the imperfection of the human form. They run a budget clinic and are able to avoid losing their license due to malpractice, because they have a close personal bond with the Nosferatu, and love to skincraft them into an appearance that while still leaving them deformed, could pass as injuries or illnesses, making them less likely to violate the Masquerade. These favors give them connections to blackmail and extort anyone, enough that they can hire a Ventrue lawyer to protect them.

Gangrel: a Pational Park Ranger, who may or may not have connections to many, MANY missing 411 cases. They hold a position of neutrality between almost every faction, by upholding the laws of the Camarilla, by keeping the masquerade intact, while simultaniously cultivating their own open-air human meat restaurant. A safe place for werewolves, and other kindred to engage in their most animalistic urges, without fear of leaving evidence behind.

Malkavian: an autistic dark web information broker, that somehow knows what their customers want long before they even make contact. They have a habit of logging every email, password or other piece of identifying information that pops into their head. Breaking the fourth wall, the player could improve this by listening to business, economics or true crime podcasts during sessions, and talking as if it's a conversation they're having to what's going on at that point in game.

Tremere: a character who wants to form their own autonomous enclave, separate from any form of government be it human or kindred based. This wilderness commune is under constant surveillance by several human law enforcement agencies, and is publicly recognized as a cult, though they are petitioning to be recognized as a religion. They sire high ranking members of their organization, only after several years of indoctrination, at which point the Frog has boiled over and been reduced to a fine broth. The appeal of the cult to outsiders are the opportunity for travel, under the guise of medical and disaster relief efforts. All members are also frequently asked to donate blood for "those in need." Internally they don't believe in any religion, the player could make the argument that Kain wasn't cursed by God, but instead was the first evolutionary offshoot from mankind, and they internally view each vampire clan as related in much the same way as humans are related to other apes. This internalized vampirism racism while a massive negative trait, is effectively used by studying each and every clan solely for the purpose of learning how best to manipulate them.

Bruja: (this one's shorter than all the rest) During life they were a decorated cold war era military veteran, who was honorably discharged with injuries after certain government experiments. After their siring they have dedicated their un-life to spreading good old fashioned western values to the oppressed and impoverished parts of the world as a PMC.

Nosferatu: since almost every nosferatu have the same MO, preferred hiding spots and methods of travel, I think this clan is best defined by they're personality and view of the world. The owner of an Incel forum, who uses it both to unironically post their own thoughts and feelings, but to gather info from their users about all the Chads and Staceys in need of some punishment for their arrogance. They also frequently browse social media, and may or may not be responsible for at least a few throwaway accounts responsible for doxxing public figures. They are an absolute bitch for drama, and spend their downtime binging tea channels and Beauty-tubers but can't see the irony of this hobby.

Lasombre: an old fashioned head of a boston mafia group. He's made a fortune exploiting the working class and extorting the needy for decades, and running a successful shipyard and fishing company. His preferred targets for siring are dock workers, and local gang members that he sees as either beneficial to his criminal empire, or someone that his enemies would hate to lose. He has a unique point of view among most of the kindred, in that he doesn't discriminate among humans, Vampires or oan of the other creatures and organizations around him. They're all of equal value in his eyes, that value being equivalent to a character pip from the Game of Life, meaning tiny l, worthless bits of plastic, that take up space and are only worthy of notice when they directly impact him. His closest friend is actually a human butler, that picks out his clothes, make sure he's in proper order, and takes care of him. He will never sire this friend, as they are fully aware of his true nature and have asked him kindly to not do so. This blatant violation of the masquerade is barely tolerated as an open secret, since covering this particular leak would cause more trouble than just leaving it alone.

Tzimisce: a geneticist, who's network has a hand in every animal centric organization in the world, whether it's pet care, breeding, meat production, pageantry, racing, or law enforcement training, they can somehow be linked to it. They are fascinated by genealogy and genetics, obsessed with the true history of the world and want to prove the lineage of every clan and bloodline, simply for the satisfaction of having that knowledge. They were a successful dog breeder in life and now may or may not be practicing human and clan breeding in secret. They have a strange fascination with the Caitiff, and are regularly observed by many, acting friendly with these undesirables. They have a genuine love for animals, and would never harm any of their precious creatures, but see humans as lower than scum, utterly disgusting parasites hellbent on destroying their precious mother nature. They have no desire to sire an heir, unless eventually forced to do so, have no feelings whatsoever toward the idea of harming humans, seeing their acts as mundane or even justified, and this hatred goes so far that they frequently push themselves to the brink of frenzy just to avoid drinking from these vile creatures. Before their embrace, they had a pet dog that they loved more than anything in the world, but sadly killed during their first frenzy. They keep their friends collar on them at all times, despite the guilt they feel, it's the only thing that gives them comfort and let's them sleep at night.

Hecata: (I thought of this as an experienced player, or storyteller's PC) an elderly person, though not ancient. A member of a long lived and wealthy family dating back possibly to the Methusala. A family man, with an actual family, they sired before their embrace, with the knowledge that they will one day need to make arrangements for their children to be embraced. You take on the role of a mentor figure, teaching them the ways of the kindred, necromancy, and hunting, but are planning to, at the end of their training, have more promising of your spawn, diablerize the other.

Banu Haqim: a vigilante serial killer, think Vampire Punisher, or Dexter. Seeking out rogue kindred who've strayed from their respective code, regardless I'd they're Camarilla, Sabatt, or Anarch. The kindred you hunt are blatant violators of the masquerade and do so without even the little bit of control the Sabatt has over its members. More than anything, they are the biggest threats to kindred society as a whole and expose us all to the threat of human exposure. They are the perfect target for one such as yourself, both as self-proclaimed peacekeepers, and to satiate your own clans curse. It's your solemn duty to ensure that no evidence of kindred society is left behind.

Ravnos: a backpacker, spelunker and base jumper. They are a very popular Social Media personality and travel vlogger that enjoys documenting cave exploration and nighttime adventures into the wilderness. They know all the best tourist spots, what every kind of human blood tastes like, and won't shut the hell up about how they need to take you to Venice to try genuine Venican blood fresh from the source. They have a lot of annoying habits, and frequently humble brag about their enlightened un-life, but are generally good company and easy to get along with. You still wouldn't call them a friend though. They're the type of person that always sleeps over when they visit, but you can never remember them specifically asking if they could crash on your couch.

Ministry: You are a bio-terrorist. After your embrace, you took an interest in medical sciences for all the wrong reasons. Fascinated with your new undeath, and immunity to human illness, you start to question the limits of your new undead body, and decide to push it to new limits, concocting plagues, viruses and diseases and testing them on unsuspecting vampire populations. Occasionally, maybe, sure, some human populations get sick as well, pandemics, happen, and hundreds of thousands die each time you conduct a test, but that's the price of good science.

Caitiff: literally just don't play Caitiff. It's hard to come up with a creative or unique story for this "Clan" since they are effectively nobodies. The best comparison to be made I guess would be that Caitiff are the vampire equivalent of that weird conspiracy theorist who works in retail, has a substance abuse problem and is constantly trying to get you and all his other "work buds" to rise up and unionize against the man, but doesn't have an actual plan or any understanding on how any of that works.

Thin-bloods: Why is this a clan we can pick? Who is picking this one? Don't do it.

[drgamenstein]

I feel like it needs to be acknowledged that there is a non-zero% chance that somewhere in Khorne's realm of the warp is a planet populated entirely by dogs, completely un-corrupted by chaos mutation, as they are already the perfect representation of pure, undying loyalty.

[drgamenstein]

People say I'm "quiet until you get to know me" but actually my ADHD just manifests as internal rants that narrate the experience of me learning everything I can about a new hyper fixation, and "getting to know me" just means you interrupted that internal monologue so now it's verbal, and we both don't know what to do.

[drgamenstein]

Hey, people studying business or employed in the business world, could we just erase the term "unskilled labor" from corporate terminology? That and saying time employed doesn't equate to skills learned. I don't think there's any white collar worker out there who actually understands what those terms mean.

Also if anyone wants to debate this, and say otherwise, I'd like challenge you. Start a business, or open a store, and staff it exclusively with 15-21 year olds, with no prior work experience.

That's what unskilled labor means. If ya'll get to say you have "transferable skills" from making ads for K-Mart 15 years ago, and that's why you can promote a roofing business better than the carpenter that is well known in the community, then we can at least say that counting change and responding to emails at Walmart is similar to counting change and responding to emails at Target.

[drgamenstein]

"Simic Elves/hydras" or "How I got cursed out by my entire table, before the game began."