Posts made by Bobotron

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

@Bobotron
You already had me covered ok.

I'm on the ball. Plus I like the concept of using what the Romans did with their immigrants before they were allowed citizenship or those who they had not established official relations with; the Peregrini were that thing, and it really fit.

What about deities and temples? Religion for Vampires would be important ( and its something that I think would be pushed upon with all this Roman-vibe in a modern world.

I hadn't written the file up on this, but yes, there are temples and worship of the Roman gods is a thing, though it's more heavily done as ritual (the city's big gatherings, for example, would start with a dedication to Pluto, who granted them eternal life). Part of the Aedile's position would be helping priests (which are not, currently, a considered city position, but I think its' needed) deal with temples. Remember, the Roman vibe is only the vampire society; normal mortal society is still normal mortal society.

ETA: There are also things in the vein of old Rome; there are public baths, there are forums/gathering places, and in large enough cities there are often arenas where the vampires view gladiatorial matches between each other, or their human servii, or even weirder shit (House Axius often uses their blood to bring statues to life as servii, and they will use those as gladiators, while House Gaius finds it a point of honor to uphold their martial prowess in the arena).

Are Vampires ak nown thing? Like does your average Joe Human known about his Vampire neighbors. down the way?

Average Joe Mortal is unaware (though like most supernatural worlds, some people have more inklings than others). Some branches of various world governments are aware, but it's very... hush-hush... and many cities hierarchies often have accords with the supernaturals in the area (think the council of witches, werewolves, vampires and humans in New Orleans, in The Originals). In our setting, NYC, the city council knows... they work with Section 7 to keep it out of the public, and the Consul and princeps work directly with them.

Are there Blood Bank for Vampires? So they can get food, and the 'cleaner' vampire blood can be parceled out for healing purposes ( I assume it must adapt to the 'hosts' body, but can be stripped of any of the 'extreme' vampire properties, so they're not making new vampires.

Vampires have no issues drinking from blood in blood banks; you can use the Vessels asset to represent personal access to it, and there is SOME public blood ala the clinic in VtM Bloodlines. Otherwise, the vampire blood is considered sacred, like ambrosia to the gods, and is shared for very few things (intimacy and siring being the two primary reasons). Siring is also typically a Big Deal; there's usually a celebration, a feast, and gift-giving to the new vampire.

ETA: As noted above, vampire blood is powerful. It's concentrated 'life' after a fashion. It's what animates a vampire. They can also use the blood to empower a human as a servus, or an animal, granting them additional strength and ability; and those who know how can use their blood to bring inanimate things to life. House Axius makes statue-guardians using the blood, and there was a historical record of House Asinius bringing the gargoyles of a cathedral to life to destroy the Houses in a city.

@Songtress
That's what the Peregrini are; you're a vampire, but you have no recognition, no House, and are roughly outside the social structure insofar as doing anything hyper important.

@DnvnQuinn
LOL. This is true, but you know what I mean. I find Anne Rice's books play out differently than a standard WoD game or even a standard WoD session.

I'm working on an original supernatural game as an alternative to the WoD. I'm aiming to be a more mix of Underworld,Blade, Buffy, and Anne Rice than I am the typical WoD game (as in, a Blade-style shoot up is going to be more acceptably common, or a Buffy-style brawl will be easier to deal with, than on the standard WoD game). Notably its going to be different in that it'll have more automated stuff, so that things like combat and even basic checks flow faster, since I'm building the mechanical parts from the ground up.

I have a thread on here, http://musoapbox.net/topic/1083/interest-check-original-vampire-based-supernatural-mu/, and you can also poke around my devblog at hotbmush.com/blog/

@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.

@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.

@Auspice
Sending good vibes, man. I know that feel.

@DnvnQuinn
I would go perhaps poke about the wikis and websites of some games that have extensive combat code that handle that side of things to see the types of stuff they do; there are tons of games with combat code that does the big, heavy lifting of that for you.

If you're going to make the social side of things work, my one advice would be: make your social stats matter on character vs. character interactions. Then you can figure out what bonuses your social Perks confer. But I think you'd be better off doing custom work, looking at perhaps some of the Fallout game mechanics outside of the SPECIAL thing. Crib from places. Look at say, the Buffy RPG which has some nice mechanics. Look at things, find things you like and that you think will work and crib heavily.

ETA: The combat side of things, just glancing at the Fallout wiki, seems like it would be relatively straightforward. I'd go look at TF2k5 and Megaman MUSH's wikis to poke around their combat systems; you won't find the code (though I'm sure you could ask their staff, particularly 2k5), but a lot of the stuff I'm seeing with temporary buffs/debuffs, various benefits of each stat level and such is really doable in my experience with combat systems.

(Also, I'm going to liberally lift stuff from here; there's some really nice stuff I can convert into powers for my own game).

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.

@DnvnQuinn
Yeah. That sounds like a fun concept.

Now, the roster concept of 'disposable' PCs could work if, say, the baselines were extremely simple. Build the PCs at a baseline (so, for example, my vampire game I'm building, they'd all be built as base PCs without the XP floor, essentially as 'trial' characters, already done up by staff with blurbs about what they are, a LITTLE personality, and some other info). Give people two options: play and return the temp PC (if they die, then they die), or they can 'upgrade' it to a normal PC, and then go through the last part of chargen.

I think it could work, really.

@ThatGuyThere
It's what we do for convention LARPs or special event LARPs like this one.

@Auspice

This is a concept that I can get behind. Non-named, statted, with a blurb about what they are and people can just grab-and-go. We're doing this for the Tremere-specific game our LARP has coming this next weekend with things like 'The Modernizer' or 'The Antimagic Experiment' or 'The Archaeologist' which keeps the gender and stuff fluid and able to be played by any player.

Realizing you fucked something up, and, in addition to already piling onto your stress about something, may have cost you a friend.

Hrm. The last free host I used (because I wasn't sure if the game would get off the ground) was themudhost.net. They've had great uptime and their admin got back to me quickly.

I am sorry if I threw off your outing schedule.

@SunnyJ
My Google fu is stronk. I was searching for supernatural families and it came up way down on the list.

And yes, Final Nights is the one I found prior. Pretty wikis.

@Thenomain
Figured I'd throw it up here. The wiki design is reminiscent of an OWoD V20 game I saw at one point (also set in NYC) that never seemed to get off the ground. It is a pretty wiki.

Found while digging around for something else.
Anyone know anything about it? Might scratch the Awakening 2e itch that a lot of people here have.

http://fallenworldmux.com/wiki/Main_Page

I'm a fan of an attribute/skill split, but I'm also a fan of simplified attributes (which is why I'm going with Physical/Social/Mental/Willpower for Houses of the Blood).

I'm also really a fan of what MET: Vampire's most recent version does; you don't get something in each Strength/Dexterity/Stamina, but you DO get a specialization in one (or two if you take a special Merit), and the specialization in each category informs what you're the 'best' at with that character, as well as gives some bonuses.