[Interest Check] Original vampire-based supernatural MU*

[Coin]

Really like what you have so far. Ping me privately if you want some design help and stuff. I'm interested.

That said, I think you're missing a golden opportunity in the "Dictator" position; it should definitely be "Caesar". XD

[Creepy]

This looks great and you've obviously put a ton of research/effort into it thus far. Well done. I'm definitely interested.

In regards to "powers/abilities", I think you can also draw some inspiration from various Superhero/Villain sources. Intangibility/phasing would be one example that's in keeping with the general vampire vibe.

[Bobotron]

@Coin
LOL. I just picture the blooded using Caesar as an insult word for the Dictator position perhaps. Funnier if it's someone from House Julius.

[Coin]

@Bobotron said in [Interest Check] Original vampire-based supernatural MU*:

@Coin
LOL. I just picture the blooded using Caesar as an insult word for the Dictator position perhaps. Funnier if it's someone from House Julius.

I think it would be funnier if the position was actually Caesar and when a vampire wanted to be scathing, he'd go, like, "She just better watch her back, s'all I'm sayin'm, knowatamean?"

[Bobotron]

@Coin
We will talk more when I'm not on my phone at lunch. There is still much to do for the game.

[Bobotron]

@Creepy
I had considered raiding some unusual sources like superheroes. And anime because there's a ton of vampire anime with weird stuff. Like the weapons the Vampires use in Seraph of the End that drink a vampires blood and get a temporary strength boost.

[Bobotron]

I'm on my phone but had some thoughts on lunch I wanted to chuck up here.

Automation
So, as noted, unlike the expect led TT on MU that is the standard for WoD and many other games, I plan to automate combat and give a really easy semi-automated +roll equivalent.

We will be automating most of the systems, in particular combat, for ease of use and a more cinematic feel. There will be guidelines for how combat runs, as well as actual initiative round-by-round code that can be used (and maybe opted out if players want to freeform it more). The system will do all the work for the fight, such as comparing skills and applying damage, processing healing and all of that fun stuff. We will also be automating the task resolution, so that players can just do +check stat+skill and get the result total as well as success totals/ratings. If you've played at a TF MU ever you'll have an idea what combat will be like.

Damage is a flat rating and not divided by type. However, the three vampiric banes: fire, sunlight and silver, cause damage to be hard to heal. Essentially it lowers the maximum LP until the damage is healed (IE: A vampire with 78 LP takes 30 damage from fire; her max LP is reduced to 48 until she can heal the damage, which costs more in blood).

Weapons have a damage rating based on their severity; a knife does less damage than a sword, and a sword does less damage than a machine pistol, which does less damage than a grenade launcher. We’re looking at 0 (no bonus damage) to 5 (highest bonus damage), and damage is calculated as: Appropriate Stat + Damage Rating + Success Levels on successful hit - Armor - Additional Penalties (such as DR from Resistance). Powers that do damage function in this same manner, so Psychci assaults damage is based on the Mental stat for example.

Weapons may also have effects that grant them extra benefits, such as Burst which allows the weapon to attack up to 3 targets (like a machine gun), Armor Piercing which reduces armor reduction by half, or Brutal which makes each success give a bonus of 2 damage. Weapons can have 2 qualities and are often modified by powers like Intensity.

Armor has a rating, like weapons, of 1-5 and is typed against Weaponry/Brawl or Firearms.

ETA: Here's a mockup of +sheet/combat (IT IS NOT FINISHED!)

[Bobotron]

placeholder for history and setting info expansion

[Songtress]

Only problem with Coded combat, is that the 'higher points' have a greater chance of winning, how d oyou want to handle giving the perhaps newer players or players who are entering combat because of say a conviction, the ability to NOT get trounced in a numbers game? @Bobotron

[Bobotron]

@Songtress
That issue is the same on any game that has stats, coded or not.

I plan to use an XP floor for new players, and a general cap on XP gained per month overall, so that new people aren't flat new build. They won't have the same as someone who is active each month but they won't be brand new converted Blooded either. I haven't posted anything about the underlying system yet because it's still being worked on but I'm looking at a comparison to get a percentage of success, then for every 10 that is rolled under that default (which at +/-0 is 50%) is a success for damage or higher gains in a general roll.

ETA: I'm also looking at a potential alternate combat baseline, which is more based off of the OWoD quickstarts (roll d6s equal to stats, 4+ is a success) and do count-vs-count successes on attacker vs. defender, with other things modifying appropriately. I am still running tests, but the compare-to-get-% I think works decently (I did it at one TF game and it worked out pretty well). No system, of course, is perfect and the variances of dice or any RNG is going to skew things occasionally.

[Arkandel]

@Bobotron Yeah, it's the same thing. Whether combat is coded or it's +dice based, if your attributes are twice as high as the other guy's it won't end well for him

[Songtress]

@Bobotron Aww no brand new converted blood? I always find that makes for interesting stories, or actually doing the conversion in game, going from Mortal to Vampire. Makes for some interesting and different kind to existance.

[Bobotron]

@Songtress
playing a newly Blooded will be fine (you'll just be an exceptional conversion, I'm also toying with the idea of the floor representing it like the blood sharing in Anne Rice books for stronger or weaker vampires). Plus you can always just not spend your starting XP if you really want to be a just converted Blood Drinker.

@Arkandel
Yeah. All systems have that issue. Hence why I'm building something from scratch with the history and concepts I've gained from running automated games like that and some ideas on limits and such.

[Bobotron]

Hey all. It's been an insane week. I have done some edits to the pages here (I added some stuff into the previous posts via edit, so go back through and re-read the first page)

The Houses - Expanded

It's been a slightly insane week. I finished the writeups for the Houses; there is more but this should give a feel of what the Houses are and what they are about. I have also reduced the number of options; I was writing things and went 'well, I am having overlap; too much' and reduced it to 6 playable houses.

• Aurelius/Aurelia: House Aurelius looks for particular qualities in its potential new members, qualities that their founder, Lucius Aurelius Nerva, embodied and sought out in others. House Aurelius focuses on those who exhibit leadership qualities, a keen eye for social situations (and intrigue), are well spoken, and have a certain capacity for subterfuge. House Aurelius finds those qualities a powerful resource to ensure the House's survival, and prefer the erudite to be drawn into their ranks: businessmen, politicians, public speakers and others of such a bent, though any with a keen ambition may be sought by those of the House. The House pushes its members to be ambitious (and often, its members come from ambitious and affluent mortal existences), and due to this, there is much rivalry between members of the House for position, status and control of resources.
  • Founder: Lucius Aurelius Nerva (sired by Titus)
  • Symbol: A crowned helm
• Axius/Axia: A patrician by birth, a scholar by choice, the founder of House Axius, Quintus Axius Allectus, was an extremely intelligent individual. His house, House Axius, prides itself on maintaining those traits, drawing in those of a scholarly bent; those with a high intellect, a keen wit and mind, and the ability to 'read between the lines' of the world and get to the truth. They draw from the ranks of scholars, and mark themselves as the historians of the gens sanguinis, believing that, without the study of history, one is doomed to repeat it. In addition, their predisposition towards the mental realms make them excellent researchers, and many of the House branch out from history into researching other topics, often various areas of the supernatural that are unexplored and uncatalogued, even into the modern nights.
  • Founder: Quintus Axius Allectus (sired by Titus)
  • Symbol: A quill
• Claudius/Claudia: The spiritual aspects of the world are part of the life of most all intelligent beings, and vampires are no exception. Founded by a Vestalis who Licenia took under her wing after an attempted assault, House Claudia was founded by Lucretia Claudia Apelles, drawing a spiritual aspect into the Blooded. Originally bringing in much of the Roman spirtualism and worship, House Claudia draws from the pious, the religious and the spiritual, seeking to be a sort of 'spiritual beacon' to the Houses, maintaining their temples and rituals. As the ages have passed, the House has integrated aspects of many faiths and beliefs into the 'religion' of the Blooded, grounded in ancient Roman worship and the belief in being cursed by the Gods of Rome. House Claudia also works with House Axius in regards to the spiritual and magical research of the Blooded's history and existence.
  • Founder: Lucretia Claudia Apelles (sired by Licenia)
  • Symbol: A three-piece wing
• Gaius/Gaia: The sword and shield of the Blooded, House Gaius is descended from a Legatus, Marcus Gaius Seneca, who was brought Into the Blood to add to the martial capabilities of the Blooded during a war with the Therians in ancient Rome. House Gaius believes in the strength of the physical, drawing from those with strong physique and strong convictions, such as police, military, martial arts adherents and even street gangs; any with a capability at combat, and an ability to be molded and folded into the House's 'army' are prime candidates. Though they aren't the only members of the Legion of the Dead, their House tends to be involved in some capacity in a given city's Legion.
  • Founder: Marcus Gaius Seneca (sired by Titus)
  • Symbol: A stylized sword
• Julius/Julia: Descended from an extremely wealthy patrician, Ignatius Julius Alexius, House Julius maintains the late Roman excess into the modern era. A house of decadence, excess and wealth, those of House Julius believe in living life to the fullest, and do this through drawing in those who live modern lives of comfort and excess: those in high society, the idle rich, and even down to those on the expensive club circuit. The House prides itself on showing its status through the look and material wealth of its members, and is viewed from the outside as vapid, narcissistic and ostentatious. But this is just a cover for the great social manipulation in the mortal world that the Julii attempt on a great scale, in order to set themselves up as well as keep the Houses in order.
  • Founder: Ignatius Julius Alexius (sired by Licenia)
  • Symbol: A stylized lily
• Octavius/Octavia: Founded by Publius Octavius Eclectus, a wealthy man who ran a ludus, House Octavius is descended from Publius' philosophy on life, drawn from years of training gladiators: there exists someone to fill any need. In this, House Octavius is a bit of an oddity, in that they don't have a specific type of individual that they look for to swell their ranks. Rather, they look for people of exceptional ability in many realms, drawing from innumerable walks of life, people of exceptional talent in areas perhaps overlooked by those of the other Houses. In this, House Octavius is often the largest house, if not the most powerful.
  • Founder: Publius Octavius Eclectus (sired by Titus)
  • Symbol: A stylized, spoked wheel or shield

And the three traitor families, who are attempting to destroy the remainder:

• Laelius/Laelia
• Asinius/Asinia
• Fabius/Fabia
  • All three of these sired by Licenia and are referred to as the Traitor Houses, as they follow Licenia's desire to destroy the other Houses; most of their records have been expunged, and their internal societies are unknown by the rest of the Blooded. On an OOC note, they may or may not be PC options, I have not yet decided, but they are definite antagonists.

[Malkleth]

@Bobotron This looks neat! I like lifting the status system from MET as well.

[somasatori]

@Bobotron

This sounds great. All of the thought you've put into the vampiric houses seems like it'd be a very well-crafted world. I really like the Roman style there. I'd definitely be interested in playing on a game like this. It sounds like it'd be rife with a mix of scheming, politicking, and so on, without having to deal with the systems already in place from nWoD. It'd be a nice change of pace. Keep on keepin' on, sir.

[Bobotron]

@Malkleth
Hey, thanks! I think one of the best things that came out of the new version of MET was the status setup. It adds a lot to the political play aspect, without it just being 'oh, yeah, I am<blah> based on votes'. Your status actually does other stuff.

I'm currently working on some of the ability suites for the powers, but I'm hitting a wall, primarily in coming up with at least 3 abilities for the Basic/Advanced/Intermediate/Master tiers. I MIGHT, depending on what I can have come up, set it up so that PCs would build their own, particularly for combat, and their mastery of the power determines the damage levels and effects that they can use to build them. I'm working on Magnetism right now because it was just where my brain went.

[Songtress]

Suggestion:
Build a base Set of powers that all Vampire have ( with some flavor tweaks:

• Flight

• Mesmerize

• ShapeShift (limited to 1 animal, 2 if of House Claudius/Claudia?)

• Blood Bind- for grooming mortals as fancy servants for ones self, or others, also makes them loyal to you. (though there are 'general binds' which make them loyal to the house, but you know, doesn't break 'selfpreservation'.

[lordbelh]

I'm liking the writeup so far.

[Bobotron]

@Songtress
So far that's the plan. Right now all vampires will get Aesthesia (enhanced senses), Mobility (flight, wall walking, etc), the blood properties that make servii, either Magnetism or Compusion based on their lineage (those descended from Titus get Compulsion, those of Licenia get Magnetism), and a physical power (2 each get Intensity, Swiftness and Resistance).

After that people can buy their hearts content of powers. Where I'm tripping up is power options, or at least I was. I found a score of, of all things, D&D4 powers which will help pad things out. Particularly in combat uses of Magnetism and Compulsion. It looks like most things will hAve 3 at each level, at least 1 of which will have some utility in a fight. Others are along the lines of familiar WoD powers. Cult of Personality, a Basic Magnetism power, boosts your mundane Social stuff for example, while the Intermediate Magnetism power Inspiring Presence helps an ally through your force of personality, inspiring them to great things.