My only comment would be, you said you're getting rid of skeevy behavior. But one of your examples states that you can't roll to seduce on short-term. That implies the long-term ones can do that.
My advice would be to just issue a blanket list of things that can't be gotten by social combat, period. It's my plan with the Leverage system I'm building for HotB.
The 100.
OH GOD THE 100!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also The Flash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I haven't been this excited about TV shows in a long time.
@The-Tree-of-Woe said:
I'll swear up and down, right and left, that the schism was the best thing that happened to Camarilla genre. The Gangrel were a non-entity, and are better as independent individualists who join the Camarilla if they feel like it but usually can't be arsed. The Assamites bringing a huge fraction of their sorcerers to the Camarilla, on the other hand, meant the Tremere don't have a bullshit monopoly on mojo, forcing them to be competitive. Which makes them much more interesting to play.
And this is one of those things that I am aiming to actually have as an in-game event for the game, the Assamite Schism; I want to allow the Vampire players to be able to interact with the greater WoD. And even if we have zero assamite players, that doesn't mean PC Prince, PC Primogen or high-rankers won't get to deal with those as events and such.
Let's leave aside 'completely ridiculous argument' because I don't think anyone is going to reasonably argue that 'Hey baby, wanna fuck? +roll' is a valid instigator for Social Conflict. But let's say, someone actually tries and puts forth effort, but YOU (the blanket you, the observer) don't feel that their attempt is 'good enough' even though they tried to do what they could.
But we (blanket we, the community) don't take this same thing into account, GENERALLY, when someone poses firing a particular type of gun the wrong way, or stab for 'movie vital parts' or whatever. Why do we apply it to one, but not to the other? It's a double standard, to a point.
I'm going to give an anecdotal example here from the last LARP I ran.
I had a player who played with us, who was not at all socially adept and diagnosed with actual social disorder. He wanted to play a highly social character and had a concept and chose a Daughter of Cacophony. And he tried his goddamn head off to BE social, even if he, the player wasn't the best at it. And so we relied on the Social Attribute and Skills he purchased, with some coaching from the STs and acquiescence of understanding he's TRYING from players to roll with his Social Challenges.
At what point, really, does putting all the value on the immersion and verisimilitude HURT the game? And at that point, what's the point of even having any type of social stat to waste points on? I mean, being honest, even though we're a text-based community we are not a community of professional writers, and many people have social issues that hinder their roleplay, even if they are actively trying.
@Arkandel
Fox has a weird ratings thing. Like, shows do REALLY well. But like CBS, I guess they have a target demographic, and the shows that do well, but get cancelled, don't do well with the demographic that they're trying to steal away from another network. TSSC was really good. I was looking forward to seeing what the whole deal was with Shirley Manson's character.
@Fantom the art is cool and all but why not include some more meaty updates than just random ad art?
I've long wondered what, other than experience, you could give as a reward for being willing to fail, since this discussion always swings around to carrots needed to make people. Some thoughts...
Hrm.
@GirlCalledBlu
The core concept would have all players playing as vampires and possibly servii (half-vampire servants, think Renfield).
I am always iffy on playing mortals on games like this, because it leads to a lot of superfluousness IMO. It's like playing Jim the Hot Dog Vendor in Metropolis on a superhero MUSH, in my opinion. You can have fun but you'll never be able to encounter the 'core' of the game.
Hence the guidelines that would be posited with the social conflict files. But yeah. I'm erring on the side of trust and will go from there. I've had good luck doing it with 60+ person LARPs where I've had to kick shitheels out for being assholes and violating the social contract and the OOC social rules of the game, while other people are reasonable. I've had to do it a few times on MU*s where people flagrantly did shit that was against theme or broke OOC rules. I'm not a stranger to it.
And honestly, I've freely admitted a million times that I come from a massively different background than most MUers on here, having migrated on from the heavy consent TF/superhero MU circuit. I have a much different take on some things than a lot of people here do, or at least it feels that way a lot of times.
AS far as 'hard and fast rules,' besides guidelines that spell out what SHOULD be in pose(s) that initiate social combat and the actual 'here's how social conflict system works and attendant code', what hard rules are you thinking need to be there?
@Arkandel
I was a little iffy on the 'Mystique is the mutant's most known individual,' but it makes sense in the context of the movie universe. She was the most public in regards to stuff going on during DoFP and it's logical to a point.
My favorite thing about it? It was a straight-up comics movie. Some of the previous X-Men movies, particularly the early part of the franchise were trying hard to make it 'in the Real World' and not deal with a lot of the more over-the-top X-men stuff. Whereas Avengers and Thor and stuff eats up those standard comic tropes. I'm glad this new timeline gets that.
And like you, I want to see more of the team. They have good chemistry. I'd also love to see some of the more minor characters doing stuff (I am always a fan of background mutants doing mutanty things, like the basketball game w/powers from the first X-men movie that's just a 'here's an example of powers'.)
And there's already a built-in secondary villain for the next movie, who has a reason to hate the X-Men, after the villains 'glare then walk away' thing that happens.
@GirlCalledBlu
I always find issues of mixed-theme games to lack focus; you can look at the threads about the Reach and other games ending up not having focus, and that focus something I'd rather have. It lends itself well to a good environment,. Plus having them as unplayable, means more mystery and capability to use those as CvE antagonists.
What if the vampires of NYC are at war with the Witches? What if the Bygones approach House Axius in order to get information on some legendary Bygone that is threatening everything in the city? What if the Traitor Houses fuck with the Arisen and push an undying, truly immortal, superpowered Engine of Vengeance against the vampires of NYC?
That gives options to play around with. Plus i don't want to have to design the cultures, backstory, history and things for all of the 'cool monsters in the night' ideas I have.
When someone hears something that's half of a situation, and blows up and just increases your stress level. I don't have time to deal with this shit.
@GirlCalledBlu
Thanks. If I can get some good notations of interest, I think it'll go well. I think one of the biggest hurdles I'm going to hit is, I want there to be a variety of powers to take, not just Potence 1 to 5 equivalent. Like, the shadow-control power might have the 'basic attack' but also a 'drain Life Points' and a 'inflict a status effect like an evasion debuff' type, all at the same ranks; or the superstrength power might have a knockdown debuff, an ability that acts as Armor Piercing, and such...
So I'll probably crowdsource some abilities, mostly because my typical method with automated combat is more along the lines of how TF MU*s build attacks and weapons.
ETA: Additionally, it won't be JUST combat powers. There will be non-combat powers and applications; familiar stuff like 'order another person around' or 'I am supernaturallly purty' or 'read auras' and 'telepathy' and such will be there, along with things like 'telekinetic blast' or 'transform your blood into a weapon' or 'I scare you so bad you take damage'.
There's also a free Quick Start of the ASOIAF RPG which explains a lot of what the standard MUSHer would need.
https://freeronin.com/gr_files/SiF_Fastplay.pdf
That, combined with an on-MUSH walkthrough chargen that does all the calculations for you would be plenty.
@Insomnia
There're two versions, both under Potpourri there. I think Highlander: The Gathering is the one people used the most, or at least in groups I know
So, I figured I might transcribe my dev-stuff here.
If anyone is interested in chit-chatting with me about the game and development, feel free to message me here.
***Post 1: The Basics***
Statement of Purpose
To provide an originally created setting and experience, drawing from a number of historical and historical-inspired sources, as well as vampire media, to offer an alternative to the standard World of Darkness MU*. Using the sources we are drawing inspiration from (below), we plan to present a setting that focuses on a Roman-inspired sociopolitical landscape in the modern era.
Our goal is to provide a game that leans a little more towards the aesthetics of Blade or Underworld, providing ample opportunity for action and adventure, as well as the more expected mystery, investigation and supernatural horror that is the hallmark of supernatural media. The game would provide a combination of automated code to adjudicate combat and a few other things, as well as a dice-based system for non-combat resolution such as investigation, knowledge and lore, and such.
Sources of Inspiration
We take inspiration and information from the following sources, molding the inspiration to fit our vision of a modern vampire game.
Basic Premise
The supernatural exists. Perhaps not in the same vein that many supernatural myths and legends, and certainly not supernatural authors, would have you believe. But they exist. Among them are vampires, though the vampires of Houses of the Blood certainly are not what one would expect from myths and legends (though many that are in the Blood agree that their extraordinary life and conditions are what inspired many of the myths). They have existed at least since the 6th century BC, though their legendry stretches back a few hundred more years than that; until the founding of the Roman Republic, they were disparate tribes with no centralized organization, and much oral record has been lost in the intervening time.
But myth and oral tradition are handed down and, while not verifiable, is the most commonly-accepted ‘origin’ of the blood drinker, the vampire. Their myths and legends state that they were tricked by the Roman deity Orcus, cursed by the twin deities Apollo and Diana, and blessed by Pluto in recompense, they are immortal beings, and not undead like many of the legends of the world, but their immortality is sustained by life: the life of other beings, life through the Blood.
The gens sanguinis believe they can roughly trace their lineages and history back to the 6th century BC, where a Roman named Titus Albinus Flavius, a young man in the prime of his youth, had fallen hopelessly — and haplessly — in love with a priestess of Diana who he had encountered, Licenia Macra. As Licenia was a priestess of Diana, she was required to remain chaste, and though she was not adverse to Titus’ advances, she could not reciprocate his love. Despite this, the two did fall in love.
Though I’m not done with the setup, the basics behind the vampire myth is for Titus to be tricked into pissing off Apollo and Diana by Orcus in his manipulation of the lovers, and cursed to burn in the sun or with the touch of silver, then cursed when he tries to take vengeance on Orcus to burn badly from fire; then given immortality by Pluto in pity for the tricks on the verge of death, and finally absconding with Licenia and turning her into a vampire. Licena and Titus eventually created vampiric children by siring, mixing of blood, twelve lineages in all.
Eventually, the gens sanguinis were spread throughout the Roman Republic and, during the height of the Republic, formed amongst themselves the Houses of the Blood — organizations along family lines — and created for themselves a government, the Pactum Sanguinis (or Blood Covenant), establishing laws amongst themselves. However, a brutal war was fought between the lineages; three broke off and followed a disaffected Licenia away, vowing the destroy all that the Houses of the Blood had built, though none knew why Licenia vowed this destruction. Soon after, Titus disappeared into the night, his grief too great… Still, nine remained as the Houses, securing the republic and spreading across the world.
The Republic of Blood has survived into the modern nights, spread across the world, having representation in many major cities across the world, united under the senex. Eventually, various vampire covens created alliances and ‘nod nod hush hush’ deals with various aspects of humanity (and even other supernaturals), particularly in some supernatural heavy cities like London, Tokyo, New Orleans, New York or Paris. Though they aren’t public, they do have clout through favors and influence, as well as the application of vampiric powers such as Compulsion.
Setting
I have decided on New York City in the year 2016 as the setting for the game, giving an interesting setup to a wholly modern American city, large enough for many vampires, as well as large enough to provide a sensible backdrop for the more Underworld-style feel that we want to put into place on the game. Essentially the ‘modern world’ against the backdrop of a vampiric society based around Roman ethos, with the vampires sharing the city (and likely actively at war with) other supernatural types (see below).
The grid itself will be developed into districts representing major NYC metropolitan areas, with three to four room ‘area’ sections. Right now we’re looking at 9 areas and 3-4 rooms per area.
System
The game will not be using an existing system whole cloth, and we will be adapting mechanics from a couple of systems for ease of use. In particular, we are adapting parts of other systems, and creating something new, rather than using something like the WoD or FAE because of the desire to automate a number of systems, particularly combat. At the core, there will be a dice-based system, utilizing a familiar stat + skill mechanic, and then going from there. More will be posted later about the system design later.
So, only the one GoT place will ever have the 'real rights' to use the game then? Got it. 
@mietze
Nyssa al-Ghul? She also played in Spartacus. She was nekkid a lot.