World of Darkness

[vast blaze]

To quote my ST, "There is a reason the most feared thing in World of Darkness is three guys with shotguns"

Today, we were the three guys with shotguns

[worthy sundial]

then why r they throwin garou at u & not three guys w shotguns

[vast blaze]

...yeah that's my biggest issue with WoD

The combat is ass

[worthy sundial]

i wouldnt rly call it ass

its just like, thats not the genre of the games

[mighty zephyr]

People act like it is though

and it's false advertising

[vast blaze]

*ass if you wanna include it in any meaningful capacity beyond ambushes

[worthy sundial]

i mean theyre wrong

[mighty zephyr]

It's not ass if you are doing violence or if you are doing a drawn out fight scene between normal people

However anything above that becomes "I kill you" "ok"

[vast blaze]

Yeah, which is what I dislike about it

Half the reason I wanna play as a vampire is to be a cool badass vampire swordsman or whatever and then the entire system shits on you for trying to do that beyond ambushing people

[mighty zephyr]

Well you also keep making the one guy who is very easily counterable

[marble sorrel]

Paw Patrol: Created By Pentex.

[vast blaze]

Quick question, what does the Esoterica skill in Mummy do

[worthy sundial]

which mummy

[clear delta]

Ring finger lodge
Membership requires more than an eye for art
It's obsession. Art at the center of your life, with the shadow seen as a great canvas
Initiation requires an artwork done as a test. So.e great representation of your skills and philosophy. Using pieces of yourself or other people is not required, but appreciated

[vast blaze]

Mummy: The Resurrection

Ah, someone else explained it

Just covers the "doing" part of occult stuff

[graceful saffron]

Really enjoying my Players in VtR.

"Catherine can be Empathetic! There is a literal stat called Empathy, and she has 1!"

Rolls

"Catherine was not Empathetic..."

[royal river]

hey quick question, does "once per story" mean once per session or one and done forever

i'm inclined to think it's the latter but i don't remember

[mighty zephyr]

It always describes a story in every book

Its essentially an arc

Usually right at the start of a rules section

Where it describes scene, session, story, chronicle

[royal river]

ah, a whole arc, got it

i haven't read it end to end in a hot minute, but v5 has kinda. Really Bad Formatting

ty tho, i appreciate it

[vast blaze]

...character got instantly fucking onetapped by Technocrats

Guess that fucking teaches me to interact with them in any capacity beyond "shoot to kill"

[vast blaze]

...starting to reconsider if I wanna play WoD games anymore I won't lie, this is the second time I've been onetap instakilled with zero way to stop it in the last few months of me beginning to play and it's souring my view on these games as a whole

[rapid glacier]

Is your ST the same each time? Because that’s still petty shitty even once, twice is time to find a new group

[vast blaze]

Different STs

This one was for a Mage game

I went into the Digital Web to try and find some Void Engineers, my character was an ex-Engie and wanted to see about getting a message delivered to his old crewmates

Got involved in an argument with some random-ass Engineer over the ethics of the Union

The ST then randomly says "hey so you're dead now"

I ask, what the fuck, why

"Someone hit you with a Dimensional Science/Data/Prime spell that onetap instakilled you because they identified you as a threat. No you can't counter it. No you can't defend against it. Yes it still onetap instakills you even though you were only doing a sensory visitation. You jury rigged your robot PCs ocular sensors into a VR headset so this justifies having access to every single one of your systems and instantly killing you."

[mighty zephyr]

Thats weird

[vast blaze]

I will fully admit I made a mistake in arguing with the Technocrat but to just instantaneously kill off my character without any way to counter it?

[mighty zephyr]

I mean its not a mistake, fuck technocrats

[vast blaze]

A mistake in that I shouldn't have gotten embroiled in an argument with some asshole that wasn't gonna change his mind

...fucking

Two times now across two unrelated servers

[mighty zephyr]

Bro this isnt your fault that just sucks lmao

[rapid glacier]

Yeah WoD has its share of land mine showrunners, just like DnD does

[clear delta]

Dick move

[barren vortex]

Yeah thats firmly in the territory of bad ST

[valid merlin]

I think unceremoniously instakilling a PC is pretty universally a dick move

[nimble gale]

100%

[clear delta]

The gm must provide a good story and chances of interaction for pcs

[radiant marsh]

I mean I have been told straight up "If you take this course of action, your PC will die" but this is pretty different.

Clear cut 'Shit ST' situation

[olive laurel]

Also, I know mages can be ridiculous with enough prep, but I'm under the impression it's still really hard to obliterate someone instantly from a distance

[patent stirrup]

hard as in needing 7 successes at a high difficulty or the right bullshit

[clear delta]

In nwod, instakills are kinda restricted in that direct instakills are only master spells

[vast blaze]

What gets me the most is that this was apparently a Data/Dimensional Sciences/Prime effect

Wherein the highest dot was A TWO

[lucid cape]

There is not much of a difference between VtR and VtM themes right?

[vast blaze]

VtR focuses more on the Beast as a corrupting force

Whereas in Masquerade it's more of like

A dark urge and a temptation to tread the path of becoming a monster

[lucid cape]

Hmm

Other than that, same political intrigue stuff?

[valid merlin]

Mostly yes

I think in Requiem the vampires also overall don't have as much influence as they often do in Masquerade

[lucid cape]

Local than global

[clear delta]

Also, requiem doesn't ahve super vampires

Nor generation as an absolute power measure, and limit on how many generations there can be of vampires

Vampires are prone to oscillate in power

Getting their blood potence too high makes them only able to feed on other vampires, and that's a pain, considering the way vitae can affect your mind toward the vampire it was obtained from
So many vampire go into torpor to thin their blood, waking up later

This also means they step back from politics and managing things

[lucid cape]

Taking a break because your blood pressure is too high

[clear delta]

THis means vampires tend to oscillate in both supernatural and political power, unless they got some scheme going

Also, there's the sympathetic connections aspect

You can detect your sire or childe

With further effort, close "relatives" or even the clan members in general

THrough this, you can pick any clan bloodline to join
But your sire's bloodline is easier
This creates a situation such as being sired by the member of an infamous bloodline.
You may want to join another, but this means waiting longer, with non bloodline member shunning you and bloodline members noticing you didn't join them yet and being like "hey what's going on, why aren't you taking on our bloodline traits"

[radiant marsh]

This also means that having a standard mythology or even a real grasp of vampire history is next to impossible.

Because going into torpor screws with your memories.

And since you basically need to every few hundred years...

[clear delta]

2e relaxed that a bit

[vast blaze]

Probably for the best, the Generation background in 20th anniversary is ludicrously good

For the low low cost of your five Background dots or maybe like a handful of freebie points, you too can have the insane strength of an Elder vampire as a mere neonate

Should've done what Mage did with Enhancements and other powerful backgrounds and made it cost double

[clear delta]

Vtr vampires can produce an indefinite amount of generations

However, mass embraces in excess can lead to an equivalent of thin bloods unable to embrace
This happened to an historical clan that got desperate in a war

[vast blaze]

The Sabbat:

https://tenor.com/view/sweats-gif-25346666

[velvet sparrow]

Not really

Most of the strength of an Elder Vampire comes from 6+ stat cap and high xp amounts, neither of which 5 dots in Generation gets you

[clear delta]

They got slaughtered and often diablerized by the other side gangrel
The interesting thing is that in a way, all of vampirekind received their legacy, but it only emerges in those whose embraces went wrong, Revenants
They manifest the fallen clan's discipline to be efficient and store vitae long term, which they use for themselves and fellow revenants, creating little nests and families
Revenants sweat out almost all vitae during the day, you see

[vast blaze]

True

I meant more the blood pool and being able to spend more than one BP per turn

[velvet sparrow]

That is quite strong

Also the immunity to Dominate and resistance to Presence

[radiant marsh]

Nah, because when the Sabbat do a mass embrace almost none of them are expected to actually survive.

And if they do, they're Sabbat. So nomming somebody and stealing their power is encouraged

[mighty zephyr]

Btw

We actually did find the Unbirthed from Bloodlines 2

[velvet sparrow]

Oh??

[mighty zephyr]

They are actually in the V5 Sabbat book

https://i.imgur.com/NHOwSxH.png

[vast blaze]

...wait eighth gens are immune to Dominate?

[velvet sparrow]

From 9th or higher, yeah

[mighty zephyr]

You are innately immune to Dominate from younger generations

[velvet sparrow]

Which is a lot of vampires and probably most except the biggest vampires in your city?

[vast blaze]

...huh

Well

I'm playing an 8th gen gargoyle elsewhere

So I guess that's my clan weakness just thrown into the fucking bin

Mostly

[velvet sparrow]

And it doesn't give immunity to Presence but it makes resisting Presence from higher-gens pretty doable

[vast blaze]

...stupid fucking question

How would y'all replicate the Atlas in WoD

I know it'd absolutely be a wonder but I'm unsure how to stat it out

[rapid glacier]

…the battlemech?

Or the Lancer mech

[vast blaze]

Lancer mech

I'd go for a reflavored Alanson but it's too cumbersome

[rapid glacier]

I don’t even know where to start, there’s like four splats it could be crowbar’d into

[mighty zephyr]

It's just kinda "a thing to wear that gives you a bunch of physical stats"

[orchid void]

as much as wod does let you do goth anime sometimes, i just don’t think it’s a good fit

these are Horror games, after all

maybe go to a Shikari in Exalted if you want anime storyteller system

[untold elm]

I believe thr atlas experience is favilitated by being a werewolf

[high current]

yeah werewolf is the closest/requires the least finagling to get a similar vibe, vampire could manage with a gangrel or banu haqim probably, mage theoretically any tradition but the closest fit vibe-wise is probably verbena

assuming the vibe you want is 'am stealthy predator, set traps for big monsters, knock em down then fuck em up'

(i'd say Galestalkers are probably the closest fit for WW tribes)

[vast blaze]

Yeah it was more just a silly idea I had

[rapid glacier]

Another random discord user has played BoHN and it is always fun reading people’s reactions to it

And discovering the stupid bits they missed their first time through haha

[vast blaze]

Garou can take people into the Umbra with them right

[mighty zephyr]

Depends on edition and specific books in an edition

[vast blaze]

20th anniversary

Unsure about what books specifically but I'm assuming all official supplements and such are allowed

[mighty zephyr]

Don't think there's hard rules about humans in the Umbra

https://i.imgur.com/ZbhqWgF.png

[marble sorrel]

Not by default, though there's been the occasional rare power that did it here and there.

[vast blaze]

Right

I assume it'd be more plausible for a Mage to open a portal

[mighty zephyr]

It's about as difficult

[vast blaze]

True, given the Gauntlet

Though it'd still probably be both more plausible AND more efficient

Since they'd be opening a door rather than pulling folks through

[mighty zephyr]

No, it's because you'd need 3-4 dots in 2 different spheres

Which is about as hard as a Garou getting to rank 4

[vast blaze]

Ah, yeah

Any chance an Etherite could've made a portal opening device or some such? Or would that be even LESS likely?

[high current]

Difficult doesn't mean impossible or non-existent

There could very well be portals to the umbra around, but they're probably well guarded or hidden, if not both

[mighty zephyr]

It's possible anyone can do anything in Mage but someone casually being able to do anything is a rarity

[marble sorrel]

I mean, that's a Pretty Standard Technocrat Thing. It wouldn't be easy, the Void Engineers are an entire big group for a reason, their skills are highly valuable and highly sought after.

But yes 'Make a Stargate' is a thing a technomancer could do

Etherite or Technocrat

[nimble gale]

hell, some VAs could do that if it fits their aesthetic

[marble sorrel]

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/tron/images/2/2f/Shv_laser.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100802052510

||The digitizing laser from tron||

[nimble gale]

hah!

yeah, that's about right. And being fair, you can reach the Digital Web from the Umbra and vice versa, so like

though going to the Web doesn't require Spirit IIRC, just Correspondance or Data

[mighty zephyr]

I believe you need Spirit to get to the Digital Realm since it's just a part of the umbra.

https://i.imgur.com/mvg7HoH.png

Though this is only to psychically go into it

[vast blaze]

The Digital Web? You can access it with just a VR headset.

...not that it stops you from getting instantly fucking killed though, apparently

[marble sorrel]

...I wonder what happens with a vampire using Spirit Manipulation 5 if they go through a link to another part of the umbra. As spirit manipulation 5 lets you exist in the Umbra and the Physical at the same time.

[vast blaze]

Besides "a garou strolling by sees you and rips you to bloody tatters"?

[nimble gale]

okay, astral immersion (using a VR headset to go into the digital web) requires just data 2 and the right gear

data or correspondance

fully shunting into the web with holistic immersion is life 4/correspondance 2/forces 2

this is as of M20 core

[marble sorrel]

Good luck to them, I'm behind wards!

And Dark Ages wards are very funny in how hard they fuck with werewolves.

[nimble gale]

also at least for the vampire iki's playing with spirit manipulation her girlfriend is probably there to go 'no don't worry we're cool I talked to grandfather thunder about it'

[marble sorrel]

'You can't come in if you're not X in a stat' vs 'Your warform drops you to app 0'

Dark Ages Vampires can put up the No Uggos Ward and stop both angry werewolves and nosferatu infiltrators

[vast blaze]

"No ugly people allowed "

"BITCH"

[marble sorrel]

By going 'if you're not app 1 or higher, you can't enter'

[nimble gale]

Nosferatu: "How rude."

[vast blaze]

What happens if you shift out of war form, step inside, and shift back

Do you just get popped out

[mighty zephyr]

Well a ward's a wall

if you bust it you're in

[vast blaze]

Not so clever of a plan after all then

[marble sorrel]

Yeah but that's opposed willpower to bust the ward and A) Vampire magecraft is entirely based on willpower B) Werewolves don't have fantastic starting willpower 😛

Like a werewolf could break it.

But they'd be working uphill/it wouldn't be fast

[marble sorrel]

Yes but Aininur doesn't know that yet 😛

[nimble gale]

lmao

[velvet sparrow]

Wait so it's opposed Willpower even if you're appearance 1+?

...
Also the wards move with you?

[marble sorrel]

Nah, they're static and it's willpower if you try to break them.

[velvet sparrow]

I see

[clear delta]

https://enddaysengine.tumblr.com/post/737630192235954176/unseen-corner-mage-supernal-being

End Days Engine

Unseen Corner (Mage Supernal Being)

I didn't think it would be there. It's always in the last place you look. Why do I never look at the top of that stack of shelves? Did this room always have a window?

The Unseen Corner is a Supernal Being of hidden Spaces, especially those hidden in plain sight. The Unseen takes many forms, but all of them are small and diminutive. To a Mastigos versed in Life, it appears to be an ordinary mouse. To a Guardian, it is a mask buried in a rubbish heap. To mages with demonic or angelic Shadow Names, it is the classic Imp - a tiny, horn person with red skin, bat wings, and a pointed tail. As long as it is easily missed, it is a form the Corner can take.

The Unseen Corner is soft-spoken, rarely raising its voice above a whisper or calling attention to itself. Its unobtrusive nature means it is common for a summoner to not realize the Corner has appeared, except for the certain knowledge that the ritual worked.

Mages summon the corner when the want to be overlooked, interfere with surveillance, ...

Tumblr · Dec 24, 2023, 11:02 PM

[vast blaze]

Character that my Mummy in a chronicle I'm playing in knows just got embraced into a Malkavian

This would not be an issue, except for the fact that said Malkavian was immediately ashed by the aforementioned character's wife for being a bitchass (he'd apparently embraced her out of spite)

So now I'm trying to figure out what in the hell to do from here

He at least knows of the vampire factions, but the issue is, I seriously doubt that it would be a great idea for an amenti to walk right into a den of vampires to present a random-ass freshly embraced neonate

This is a right proper fucking mess

[clear delta]

So, if I got it right

• You're a mummy
• someone got embraced
• sire was killed

And you want to help the neonate

[vast blaze]

Aye, someone close to him to boot

The biggest problem here is that her wife is a fucking Hunter

An Innocent, mind you, but still a Hunter

And the neonate is apparently a shut-in NEET too

[clear delta]

Do you have any leverage on the vamps? Any bribe?

Mummies are strong

You could try to work out some deal

Like eliminating sabbat or baali

If you worry that even making first contact could go badly

Well, older vampires are probably more familiar with other spooks

Though they are entrenched, power hungry, long used to the game of using others

Saving a somewhat influential vampire from a situation
Or carefully opening contact

[vast blaze]

No connections unfortunately

My lad's just moved to the States from Ingerland

[fair tapir]

@marble sorrel feel like fielding a Changeling + Irish Gaelic question for someone on another server? (Question also open to anyone else who feels qualified)

[compact dune]

not an expert but i think some varient of í + ceo (old irish for island, modern bastardization in the neighborhood of hyceo or hyseo, down the same path as hybrasil) or tír na ceo (lit. land of (the) mist, down the same structure as tír na nÓg) would work and scans better as a fictional island than inis-

[marble sorrel]

Yeah, I'd lean towards the tir na ceo one. It's a very natural 'hey, this is a mystical land' one, as it turns up with Tír na mBeo, Tír nAill, Tír Tairngire etc.

Ceo works fine, as ceo druidechta is another name for Féth fíada, the mystic veil that Tuatha conceal themselves with.

Sorry for slow reply, been dealing with a muderous headache all day.

[fair tapir]

All good! I figured it'd be a minute with timezones and all.

Thank you both for the help, I'll pass it along

[vast blaze]

Is becoming a ghoul worth it in the context of really any splat at all

[gleaming wave]

no but also worth it how

[vast blaze]

Like, do the benefits of being a ghoul outweigh whatever negatives each splat gets from it

As far as I can tell it's just sort of a shitty deal

[mighty zephyr]

Depends on how much you value immortality

[nimble gale]

it's worth it short-term for a mage IMO, but long term unbalanced taking of vampiric vitae runs the risk of destroying your avatar, so

and given it's more addictive than any mortal and most immortal drugs

[rapid glacier]

I can’t imagine it’s a good deal but it’s very nature is so poisonous that the person being ghoul’d or even tempted into being one can’t see the negatives

I mean hey free Soaring Leap sounds kinda rad, shame about now having to be an accessory to a lifetime of murder and conspiracy

I bet the people who do it willingly are the kinds of people who get targeted for it because they’d just be down for that kinda thing to begin with

[gleaming wave]

my favourite ghoul was someone who was already super down to kill for one of the PCs because he was head over heels for her BEFORE she became a vampire

so it just made sense

[vast blaze]

Can y'all sell me on Mage's Life sphere

I'm gonna make me a monster slaying Mage and Life is objectively the best idea for it so I can self-buff and heal, but for some reason I find the Sphere

Kind of a bit uninspiring?

Idk why

[mighty zephyr]

is this a different guy

[vast blaze]

Aye, yeah

Can you tell I have a type

This one's just a regular human though

[rapid glacier]

You a JoJo’s fan? Gold Experience is basically the Life Sphere stand

From part 5

[hybrid dock]

aint life for getting into fun body horror

get into fun body horror!

[mighty zephyr]

Life is incredibly good because the human body is a very versatile thing

High enough life you have to stop thinking of the human form as anything other than a malleable lump of meat that can do whatever you need

[craggy coyote]

You turn any living thing into a weapon. Add in some levels in matter and you can make the entire world into a tool for killing your enemies

[mighty zephyr]

Life also rules because all spells on yourself start at difficulty 2

[craggy coyote]

"I love outfleshcrafting the tzimisce" - average life mage

[mighty zephyr]

So like, Life is the one sphere where you can just be super inventive

[vast blaze]

Shit that does sound nice as fuck

[rapid glacier]

If you do Life shenanigans on yourself internally, does it count as vulgar? Like if you rearrange your guts for whatever reason, are you in the clear so long as you don’t get a physical?

[mighty zephyr]

Even getting a physical doesnt matter

Spells dont Become Vulgar

Theyre vulgar or subtle

At the moment of casting

[rapid glacier]

Oh it’s not like a constant check type deal

[mighty zephyr]

Yeah

Because its based on the roll you made to cast the spell

[rapid glacier]

I mean you still might have problems if you give yourself something weird like Zerg spines or claws, but it wouldn’t be a Paradox problem it would be whatever the Mage equivalent of the Masquerade/Litany is

[mighty zephyr]

That would be permadox

Any high intensity shape shifting will always result in permanant paradox points

That go away when you change back

[rapid glacier]

Ah, would that make it more difficult to do other magic, I assume

[mighty zephyr]

Yes

[rapid glacier]

I wonder if that’s how Paradox is gonna work in M5, cause permanent paradox sounds kinda similar to Rage and Hunger dice

[mighty zephyr]

It makes you much more likely to burn out

I imagine we will see paradox dice yeah

[frank atlas]

I really like the creeping die pool mechanic of the 5 line

[worthy sundial]

its a neat signature yea

[frank atlas]

It's oddly intuitive for the Short Term Management systems too

like oh it's physically creeping into my dice pool

[orchid void]

This is why a lot of mage is arguing until someone asks what you’re doing and then you explain your spell to a random at the game store and use him as the test for if it’s Vulgar or Subtle

[clear delta]

Mage and jenna games with the arguing

[vast blaze]

What page are ghoul statblocks on in the V20 book?

[supple quail]

ok reading the two dots one for altering simple creature, seems like it’s pretty easy to create super viruses and the like?

or do stuff with retroviruses on the fly to act as injections of medicines or to alter dna

stuff that can honestly done with mundane equipment but you can do it on the spot perfectly

[vast blaze]

Presently making a Solar Exalt for Exalted vs World of Darkness

I... don't quite see what the hype is for so far

They're good, but everyone I talked to has been railing on and on about how "Oh you can ONLY challenge them by fighting the Wyrm itself" or "Oh they sneeze and you take five hundred aggravated damage"

And so far they seem... rather a bit less powerful than that

[mighty zephyr]

Presumably because you are fresh out of character generation

[vast blaze]

Mmm, true

I guess they were referring more to the higher levels

[olive laurel]

I'm reading 5e VtM for the first time. It is weird to me that superficial damage is generally halved.

I'm also unreasonably annoyed that earlier the book claims that Session based time isn't as important as in other games but healing (particularly for mental damage) is session based lol

Also wow, advancement is slow

[hybrid dock]

A 1 essence Solar is not able to shatter the world just yet lmao

But they’re not not scary

Given they can casually throw 20 dice at you

On account of excellencies

[olive laurel]

Is this 2e or 3e Solars? Or something more unique to the crossover system

[hybrid dock]

Ah that’s another good question

My only mechanical experience has been with 3e solars

But after playing quite a few storyteller systems by that point the “throw 12 dice at something because you’re not that good at it” trick really showed me how scary they can be

[olive laurel]

Yeah. Throwing loads of dice is a way to solve a problem. 3e solars can also get up to quite some nonsense right out of the gate because of Supernal

[hybrid dock]

My abyssal has occult as her apocalyptic and I’m working through getting the charms that let me wipe out all life in a mile radius

[nimble gale]

AFAIK ExVWoD uses unique rules for the exalted in iut, but I'll admit to not having read that book

[high current]

I skimmed it a while back and yeah, it's a WoD take on demigods rather than Actual Exalts In WoD

The charms are presented more like gifts iirc

[hybrid dock]

Lmao

[vast blaze]

How does one properly play as a Solar anyway

Ended up going for a Twilight Caste/Dawn charm favored with the Hedge Magic merit so I can do spellblade shit, I'm like 75% sure that wasn't a great idea but it seems fun at least

[mighty zephyr]

Is he Twilight or is he Dawn

you can't be both

[vast blaze]

He's Twilight, it's just that his favored charms are Dawn charms

This is for ExvWOD

[mighty zephyr]

...what

[vast blaze]

It's a weird mechanic, you pick whatever other Solar caste's charms you want and those charms cost the same as your in-caste charms for you

So like, I pay the same amount of XP for Twilight charms & Dawn charms since my caste is Twilight and my favored charms are Dawn

[mighty zephyr]

what the fuck

[vast blaze]

It's odd, yeah

Which I guess is in line with the "you are god's favorite child" exaltation

[heady kestrel]

Huh

In exalted 3e you just pick “any 4 others”

[vast blaze]

Anyway. Was it a bad idea to snag the ability to learn hedge magic? Only really wanted it for Hellfire so I can do spellblade shit.

[heady kestrel]

I mean twilights are The Best Wizards

[vast blaze]

I know ancient sorceries have flashier and better effects but they're too ritualistic for what I want to go for here

[mighty zephyr]

It sounds like you're making The Same Guy again so I guess it's not bad or anything

[vast blaze]

I do have a type

...eh, what am I worried for, it's a fucking Solar Exalt, you'd have to actively try to make them bad

A more pertinent question is how do I play them good

[heady kestrel]

So my Solar Tips

You are an Ancient Sorcerer King, feel free to act like it, you have memories of your past lives and have seen a lot of bullshit, you can powertrip a little

You are also The Strongest, even if your not literally the biggest guy around right now a Solar is The Best Person At Whatever A Solar Wants To Do Given Time

Anything else I would say is a bit more setting specific and I don’t know the setup of exalted vs WoD

[velvet sparrow]

Uhh

The Deebs managed to put all the Exaltations in the box instead of just Solars, then shit got so fucked that they went 'oh god are those idiots the only ones who can stop the world from ending?' and so released them

[mighty zephyr]

Sidereals

not Deebs

the Deebs just managed to kill them all so they could get shoved in

oh wait

is this the setup for ExWoD?

[heady kestrel]

Yeah

In normal exalted solars also are permanently on the run and persecuted for their ancient crimes, which is important to factor in but I’m not sure how Persecuted solars are in modern earth

[velvet sparrow]

Yes

Oh riiiight

Okay yeah I remember why it does that

[velvet sparrow]

So, Charms are split by caste and not ability

in ExWoD

With the castes having charms that are thematically caste-appropriate and/or the caste abilities

So you don't have Stealth charms, you have... Twilight Caste charms that key off of stealth, and maybe there's some charms in the other castes that have them too for their stuff

[mighty zephyr]

[clear delta]

Modern day version of Fokuff
Sitting on a gamer chair

[untold elm]

ack. sorry for the accidental ping Karen I fatfingered both your name and send message instead of scrolling/hitting "go to bottom"

[hybrid dock]

Heh

[vast blaze]

A Solar can handle a level 5 enemy right

[mighty zephyr]

I have no idea what a level is in this context

[hybrid dock]

Like in general or

Which system is the context yeah

[nimble gale]

I don't think a lot of us have read ExVWoD

[vast blaze]

Mage 20th, sorry

Referring to the Enemy flaw

[hybrid dock]

Ah

[mighty zephyr]

Well a level 5 enemy is relative

so if you are a Solar a level 5 enemy is someone you definitely cannot handle

[vast blaze]

Wait would a level 5 enemy for a Solar be like

Caine

"You stiffed him on a tip when he gave you a taxi ride and now he wants to kick your ass"

[mighty zephyr]

It would be a high-essence Exalted who can fuck you up

or a large group of exalted or something

[vast blaze]

...it's really funny you mention that

Because Vladimir goddamn Putin is apparently a Solar Exalt in this chronicle

It would be so goddamn funny for him to have personal beef with this complete fucking rando

[clear delta]

Putin? Why

[hybrid dock]

WHAT

Who the fuck writes this

[high current]

4chan /tg/ nerds iirc

oh wait, 'in this chronicle' so whoever the gm is

but Exalted v WoD started out as a product of /tg/ iirc

[clear delta]

I'll be honest
This level of gonzo feels a bit much to pull off properly

[barren vortex]

also, when was this written

[high current]

oh wait right no exalted v wod is from holden shearer, aka one of the original Ex3 devs

[mighty zephyr]

well it's currently being written right now

[barren vortex]

oh i see

[high current]

yeah wamly is referring to an ongoing game they're in

[barren vortex]

ahhh i see

my reading comprehension fails me

[nimble gale]

I was about to say, don't blame /tg/ for shearer's random convulsions lmao

[clear delta]

Who gets picked as solar exalted anyway? Why did putin get picked?

[mighty zephyr]

I do not think putin is canonically a solar exalted and this is just a thing for the game

[clear delta]

I know

That's my question

Well two questions

I think I heard solar exalted earn it by being outstanding?

Anyway, exalted putin felt like an odd choice, but I'm not part of this campaign

[valid merlin]

you have to perform a feat of exemplary heroism

that you probably would not have been able to do without becoming a Solar

[high current]

note that 'heroism' in the context of Exalted means 'big and noteworthy', not 'good'

solars are absolutely capable of being vile twisted fucks

[vast blaze]

My ST lol, I think he just thought it would be a funny random lore tidbit

[vast blaze]

The reasoning behind it is "you don't necessarily have to be a GOOD person to Exalt, you just have to have a strong-ass will"

Which was apparently enough for that shitwipe

[hybrid dock]

Holy shit

[clear delta]

Wait, you're midna now, Karen

[hybrid dock]

Yea

I’m still an angel don’t worry

I’m just midna

[vast blaze]

That was our general reaction when that little tidbit was revealed lol

[candid shadow]

Chat, is Santa real?

(In WOD)

[rapid glacier]

Well…https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Santa_Claus

I mean I guess he could be a kind of changeling or Mage

But his only ‘canonical’ appearance was as a Fomor in one of the Xbox games

[marble sorrel]

Santa Claus would totally fit as a changeling. I actually know exactly how he'd work too. XD

[nimble gale]

and that's a mall santa anyway, the fomor is, iirc, not real saint nick

[marble sorrel]

Santa Claus is a Síocháin, in particular.

[worthy sundial]

i think itd be funny to make him a mage

[marble sorrel]

The Síocháin represent important anchors for the Dreaming. They volunteer to bring true, archetypal Story into the world by the means of their Mantles. Though it earns them rare and special gifts, their sacrifice is ultimately selfless. They gain a lifetime without end, but that life must be spent in constant service to their kind. Fae immortals invest the time they earn, finding every possible way to help the power of narrative flow back into the Autumn world.

A changeling who's taken on an Archtypal Role

[worthy sundial]

worlds most powerful chorister

even got the technocracy to play along via the norad santa tracker

[marble sorrel]

Síocháin Santa would make a lot of sense to me. In that Santa is a Changeling but...Santa is not always the same changeling. Different changelings over time have worn the mantle of Santa and sacrificed to help keep the autumn world from moving into winter by keeping imagination and dreaming alive.

Which I'll admit, makes this basicly 'The Santa Clause: World of Darkness Edition' but I think it ties in best to his themes. XD

...oh, there is it! It's one of the listed Síocháin mantles!

The Generous Crafter!

It's the same mantle for tales of Santa, Brave Little Tailors, Kindly Shoemakers etc.

[nimble gale]

nice

[marble sorrel]

It's sadly not one of the statted mantles

As I guess they thought players wouldn't want to be Santa

Which is why I am now immediately pondering how to make Santa Changeling

ID, next time you run WoD I'm playing the Most Recent Santa 😛

[nimble gale]

sigh

okaaaaaaaay

[marble sorrel]

...entertainingly, going by how this says...I think mages genuinely have a hard time casting spells at santa. XD

As mystically they're considered a force of magic, not a person.

So I think trying to spell them would take a lot more Prime than most mages are expecting

A Síocháin is a piece of the Dreaming incarnate. The transformation suffuses their soul with raw Glamour and changes them into a fae primordial. From then on, while carrying their Mantle, they may be affected only by magic of those who have mastered the Fae Realm.

"I don't get it, I have life 5, why is the spell not working?"
Changeling:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fS_0eUCKqrM

[pure mauve]

https://tenor.com/view/sanda-kazushige-anime-gif-16102060457445526302

[nimble gale]

yeah that's a case of you needing Prime and maybe Spirit too

[marble sorrel]

Technocracy: "...OH GOD IT'S SANTA, GET THE VOID ENGINEERS. NONE OF THE REST OF US HAVE SPIRIT!"

Changeling: "And I'm a right grumpy old elf!"

[high current]

look, that particular Deviant is mostly harmless, and it's more an inspirational thing than anything, it generates a lot of Primal Force(because of all the Mundanes flocking to stores to buy gifts) and makes children aspire towards Enlightenment

[nimble gale]

the void engineers are canonically the ones behind NORAD iirc so

I get the feeling they have a Deal with ol' saint nick

[high current]

(i had to look up all of the newspeak in that, i've never played a technocrat )

[nimble gale]

You did a pretty good job, I'd say, excellent use of mutual language.

[vast blaze]

I'm actually running him as a Changeling in a VtM server I'm in right now!

He's hired the party to go kill Krampus after he got Wyrm-tainted, can't bring himself to do the deed

He also gave the entire Anarch population on the server a supply of blood that's egg nog flavored after they beat the Camarilla in a contest to deliver the most presents he set them both to the task of.

[vast blaze]

"...okay we're joyless assholes that hate magic but you know what, we'll make an exception for you because you're the one wizard we've ever met that wasn't a fucking dickhead."

[vast blaze]

Question

What might a 15-point Wonder be capable of

[mighty zephyr]

You should not be capable of spending that much on a wonder

[vast blaze]

It's from the Wonder background

I'm cooking up a Big Bad Guy NPC, this isn't for a player character

The idea is that he's some dickhead Marauder from the Dark Ages that got trapped in the Umbra and was freed recently, and he's made it everyone else's problem

[rapid glacier]

https://tenor.com/view/vigo-ghostbusters-gif-5114210

[spice abyss]

Angry Adamantine Arrow noises

Existence is War, motherfucker.

[high current]

challenge is magical

[clear delta]

Pylon is full

[olive laurel]

I'm a bit confused at some of the difficulties in VtM 5e. They seem pretty high at times? Like the Venture minimum difficulty for telling if a victim is an appropriate blood type being 4, or Chasse 1 starting at difficulty 6. Dice pools seem pretty small in comparison? And particularly for new vampires, discipline pools seem particularly tiny compared to attribute + ability

Are you supposed to use a bunch of dice tricks? Or use success at a cost (if I remember the mechanics name correctly) often? And for those two particular examples, are those just the difficulty if you don't have some plan to circumvent the standard difficulty?

[mighty zephyr]

Willpower adds three dice, but you are right that theres a lot of dicepools in general

[olive laurel]

It's only re-roll in 5e

Characters may spend 1 point of Willpower to re-roll up to three regular dice on any one Skill or Attribute roll, including a roll involving vampiric Disciplines. Characters may not spend Willpower to re-roll Hunger dice or a tracker roll, such as Willpower or Humanity.

(Unless they errata'd it somewhere)

[mighty zephyr]

Yes, rerolling failed dice is basically giving 3 more

[olive laurel]

It's slightly worse as you might not have that many failures

[vast blaze]

Question regarding the Gods & Monsters supplement for Mage 20th

What the fuck does the Size advantage do

The book just

Doesn't fucking describe what it actually does

Just lists it among the other advantages and says it costs either 3, 5, or 8 points

[mighty zephyr]

Nothing I guess

[patent stirrup]

Traditionaly size has given an extra helth level in other editions/splats

[vast blaze]

Yeah, my assumption is that it's just a souped-up Huge Size merit

[marble sorrel]

I wonder how you'd do Gargoyles as a clan in v5. They had previously two unique disciplines so there's a lot of free space...hmm...

Fortitude, Protean and...hmm...Obfuscate is a maybe but most gargoyle variants didn't have that...

Fortitude, Protean, Koldunic Sorcery (Must pick Earth or Air) maybe.

Gets them the famous Gargoyle Rituals and earth manipulation.

[high current]

i'd say Fortitude, Potence, and Protean; most of the powers in Visceratika and Flight i'd think would be either new Protean powers(further evolutions of Weight of a Feather) or some mix of Fortitude/Protean amalgams

[marble sorrel]

Maybe. I was a bit worried about that overtly a combat suite of disciplines

[mighty zephyr]

If they dont have obfuscate they will be unplayable i think

[marble sorrel]

I mean, no more than a Nosferatu.

Who yes, do get ob.

But also are not required to take it.

[mighty zephyr]

Well yeah but that's only because they deliberately changed Nosferatu to be able to function as just a normal looking guy who's kinda ugly

[high current]

gargs didnt get it in previous editions
granted, they had similar abilities in Visceratika(Skin of the Chameleon, mainly) that could maybe be handled as Protean? since afaik its less 'project a message of IGNORE ME' and more 'physically blend in'

[mighty zephyr]

Can you say the same as a guy with big asss wings

[marble sorrel]

Bane: Cold Stone - Gargoyles are creatures of vampiric flesh and living stone, recognisable by their large wings. While these wings can be folded up and hidden under a large coat, they make it difficult to stay subtle, especially as they become more stony when drawing on their blood. Characters who see a Gargoyle's wings or observe them use a vampiric power (Even normally subtle ones) gain a bonus equal to 2+Bane Severity to all attempts to identify them as a supernatural being or to recognise their clan.

Compulsion: Guardian - Gargoyles, even free ones, are compelled to protect. If a Gargoyle abandons others to harm or fails to protect something they hold dear, they suffer a two-dice penalty to all actions until the story ends or until they have amended for this failure.

Made it less 'you can't ever hide' and more 'using vampire powers makes you much more overt than most'

A ventrue can get away with 'I used fortitude to soak the shotgun, must have just been Good Luck that kept me alive'

But a gargoyle using powers is much more overt with 'Yeah, his skin just Became Stone' and such

I'd also push 'Real Flight' off to a Loresheet. Until then you have a 'glorified hang glider that's harder to use publicly than an actual hang glider'.

Means a Gargoyle can go about in public (With a large coat) but is more restricted in the powers they can use in public.

[nimble gale]

and you know, a large coat an also be suspicious depending on circumstances

[marble sorrel]

But without my long coat, how will my mirrorshades at night look good?

[marble sorrel]

Gargoyles

⏺ Hearth and Home: While on the grounds of anywhere you call home or a location you have sworn to guard, you gain one additional die on Willpower checks.

⏺⏺ Oaths of Stone: You have gained a reputation for your willingness to go to any length to fulfil an oath. Once per story, this gives you three extra dice on any social check where your oath or honesty is a factor.

⏺⏺⏺ Breaker of Chains: Your involvement in Gargoyle liberation has not gone unnoticed. Regardless of your status with other vampires, you have 3 dots of status with Gargoyles and Ghouls.

⏺⏺⏺⏺ On Stony Wings: While most Gargoyles can slightly glides with their wing, you are a master of the air. You can engage in three dimensional movement, though you still require several meters of run-up or a large drop to take off and you cannot hover. As long as you are conscious and able to move, you do not suffer falling damage.

⏺⏺⏺⏺⏺ Hide-Scarred Rituals: While all Gargoyles are born of blood sorcery, you take to ritualism with incredible insight. You may perform Blood Sorcery Rituals with Stamina + Occult, instead of the normal dice pool. Once per story, you may perform a Blood Sorcery Ritual without needing to know it, even if you have no dots in Blood Sorcery. 

The 5 dot is big but well, considering an existing 5 dot is 'You can walk in sunlight for a full day'...

[mighty zephyr]

Even the passive of that is a bit nutso

[marble sorrel]

I mean, I don't think it's moreso than the existing ones of '1/story, automatically dictate who wins a social conflict', 'be immune to sunlight' or '1/story, remove all your Grand Theft Auto Second Inquisition stars'.

[mighty zephyr]

I mean using Stamina+Occult for Blood Sorcery rituals

[vast blaze]

Iconic moment in a Mage server I'm in

[vast blaze]

...question relating to Mage: Does starting with higher starting XP confer any benefits besides "you have starting XP"?

Joined a cross-splat game and the ST's granted us all fuckin 100 XP to start, and he mentioned that "You start with the standard bonuses for having this amount of XP in your splat, such as how changing breeds get bonus rank if they start at a higher XP total."

Does Mage get anything for having this much XP to start?

[nimble gale]

More chances to buy arete mostly

Mages become somebody by being somebody

[vast blaze]

Yeah, I figured

[clear delta]

Red riding hooded mercenary could work as a goetia
She comes to the physical world and causes a wave of fear and anger, of dismay at one's own wounds
And the mercenary herself is seen as an answer to this, being hired to hunt what people see as the cause of their pain

[vast blaze]

...learned that dhampir can be Imbued

Kinda wanna play as one now

[vast blaze]

Found a perfect fucking reference for a Rokea klaive

[clear delta]

I should get more into hunter

[marble sorrel]

Yay, Aininur got to make use of a skill that nobody else in the group has.

She knows how to swim

Dark Ages Poland!

[vast blaze]

Possibly a stupid question

Does WOD have like

Alien aliens

Not like, the New Age woo woo "oh they're mystical higher beings that just look like aliens"

Real true foreign lifeforms from other worlds

[marble sorrel]

I mean...the line between those two is very difficult to tell. If you ask the Void Engineers? Yep, they've met a lot of aliens. Killed a lot of them too.

[mighty zephyr]

Kinda not really

[marble sorrel]

But if you asked a Chorister they'd argue that they were spirits

[vast blaze]

Good point

[high current]

Spirits are aliens for anybody who wants aliens

See again, the void engineers

Beyond that though not really, anything not of "earthly" origin is going to be some form of spirit or bygone

[nimble gale]

Additionally, the party has obtained the required resources for the party tremere to attempt her 'ethically sourced gargoyles' plan (that is, a nosferatu, tzimisce, or gangrel that has partaken of dark communion nad joined the baali, because -1 baali +1 gargoyle is an ethical trade, surely)

[marble sorrel]

I don't think our Tremere has a good grasp on what ethics means.

So you know...Tremere.

[nimble gale]

i love a good shitty wizard

[radiant marsh]

I recall one of the CtL books for nWoD saying that the line between an classic Grey abduction scenario and a fae encounter is extremely blurry

[hybrid dock]

I think in terms of actual extraterrestrial life you aren’t gonna get much

Plenty of “thematically looks like alien shit” but metaphysically the setting is very earth centric to the point where I’m not sure how real planets even are

[mighty zephyr]

Well theres straight aliens in cofd

[hybrid dock]

oh yeah space is real in chronicles

[mighty zephyr]

Space is real in owod too

Just mages are silly and wrong about stuff

[hybrid dock]

oWod is weird and my actual knowledge of it is...limited

[nimble gale]

Mages are right within the idea of Mage

[clear delta]

Cofd has sorta alien parasites

Whose reproduction may kill hosts

Cofd mages can visit a weird version of Mars filled with ruins and dust demons

[patent stirrup]

and as for who is right, one of the old line devs said somthig to the efect of "everyone, but mages more then most"

[clear delta]

God machine may be alien

Unknown if it came earth, space
Or it is a thing from earth that merged with a thing from space

[hybrid dock]

god machine is i think a lot of uh

universal infrastructure

given it seems to actually manage a handful of pretty important fundamental parts of physics

so if it is alien, impressive aliens

[patent stirrup]

https://eyebeams.livejournal.com/396330.html The blog post talking aout the behinds the sceens stuff around the meta plaot and who is ""right""

[marble sorrel]

* The things that are later called demons never had unfiltered access to the whole, unified mythic cosmos before it fell apart. Root privileges only belonged to God and people. From Mage's point of view, demons looking at people and seeing naked filthy animals is kind of like Tang Court officials visiting Taoist eccentrics and seeing naked, filthy animals. There's a whole other level they just don't get.

...that comes across as kinda a dicky thing to say.

[patent stirrup]

Yeah it dose, though like it feels on par with most of the dickery of oWoD

[marble sorrel]

* The Giovanni, the Orphic Circle and all the other factions in the World of Darkness who use necromancy and inevitably decide that its ultimate goal is to tear the shroud down, do that because Voormas memetically poisoned necromancy ages ago to help wreck the cycle. (And you thought Intellectual Entropy was useless, didn't you!) Incidentally, if that Etruscan Lich had gained any social traction it probably could have pointed this out.

...this also feels very de-protagonising to go 'Yeah, turns out if you do any sort of necromancy you're gunna end up memetically poisoned to help an evil scheme'

[clear delta]

Yeah

[marble sorrel]

I'm kinda glad this stuff got cut.

It's not great.

[clear delta]

Could be better if necromancy just could induce nihilism and/or destructive desires inherently

[patent stirrup]

Oh yeah stuff like this being theroticaly cut was what gave us hope for 5e stuff

[supple quail]

i think partly important here, godmachine stuff plays with a lot of tropes about alien invasions here

[supple quail]

i feel in my mind it either parasitised/monopolised them or introduced them to the universe

[clear delta]

https://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/main-category/main-forum/the-new-world-of-darkness/werewolf-the-forsaken/164781-shartha-razilu-the-snake-host

https://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/main-category/main-forum/the-new-world-of-darkness/werewolf-the-forsaken/148097-shartha-srizaku-the-locust-host

[vast blaze]

Joined a Werewolf game that's allowing Fera

Tempted to go for a mokole and build my archid form to be an outright dragon, wings and fire breath and all

[clear delta]

Snake hosts look fun

[marble sorrel]

The most important WoD query: What spheres are needed to organise a Grail War. 😛

[sour zephyr]

https://v.redd.it/13ehryei7j0g1

[vast blaze]

The ones that let you assemble a Holy Hand Grenade

[sacred viper]

I feel like you'd end up needing all of them

Atleast though the most importan would probably be Space, Spirit, Mind, Matter and Entropy imo

[craggy coyote]

Considering The sheer amount of spirits, what they can do, etc, the answer is yes.

[orchid void]

another facet of the ascension war prolly

that’s just a thing people are doing

along with i assume a digital devil saga

[nimble gale]

you can literally run a digimon game on the digital web

[high current]

been reading Department of Truth and it feels like basically a group of sleepwalkers unknowingly taking part in the ascension war, for the most part
(tl;dr of the premise, there's a secret government agency whose entire job is squashing conspiracy theories before they get too popular, because if they do, the strength of the shared belief can rewrite reality to make them real; there's also some stuff about hunting cryptids, and the USA and USSR fighting a literal war of ideas during the Cold War)

[craggy coyote]

If we're talking things that make us think of mage, I strongly encourage people here to read Absolute Martian Manhunter

[high current]

oh yeah, AMM John fully Awakened in the first issue, the Martian is his Avatar, and he's just casually casting Mind spells

[vast blaze]

...so my Tremere's been poking around trying to get into contact with some wizards, wants to start working with them

Managed to find their chantry but they had a barrier up around it, left em a note saying "Hey, I wanna work with you guys, gimme a call if you're down to clown"

oh no

It's doubly bad because WE LITERALLY JUST DID A JOB FOR THE TECHNOCRACY

[craggy coyote]

That's how you get a T800 sent after you my guy

[vast blaze]

That would be so fucking hype

We're all pretty decently specced for combat so we'd have a decent shot at kicking its ass

[viscid stratus]

Shoutout to that one time our ghoul pc made a whoopsie and brought the technocracy down on us
And suddenly I found myself in a 1v3 against the T800s with my very uhm... combat focused Hecata

[craggy coyote]

I'm in danger.gif

[craggy coyote]

Had an idea for a blood sorc ritual (for Vtm 5th, not 20th).

Effectively a tremere blood curse that mimics the ventrue clan bane/forces prey exclusions.

Initial thoughts are as follows:

Ingredients: a human whose blood must be spilled onto the effigy, an effigy of the victim which must be burned, the victim's vitae, hair, or toe nails.

The victim is unable to feed on other vessels that share one trait of the victims chosen by the caster without spending will power
as if they had either the Ventrue clan bane OR take stains upon feeding from thos with that trait (prety exclusion).

Thinking the resist roll would be

resolve+Occult or stamina+occult.

Duration is for nights of margin.

[clear delta]

House of Spiders
The refuse from (pick a group of orders or ministries)
The hypocrisies and shames are sent there, and told to hunt for other secrets to suppress. At its core lies an abyssally corrupted artefact, with its wielder being trained as the house's supreme member

[clear delta]

The artefact would be space, time, mind

The concepts of stranda and karma used in the inspiration are a bit difficult for me
But the sword can cut memories, bonds and time. And is named after the 8th counsciousness in Buddhism, Arayashiki, which apparently carries the karma and such?

[clear delta]

Huh could work as an astra too. Edit: on reread, no. Caracters aren't supposed to have it for long nor be able to truly use it for themselves

[strong bronze]

Through several strength enhancing effects,one of my friend's mage characters has reached

295 strenght

i dont even know what paradox spirit would deal with this

[mighty zephyr]

Well they would just explode

They'd have 290 permanent paradox

[high current]

290 dice worth of damage, good luck

[mighty zephyr]

regular dex to hit though

[strong bronze]

they are currently fighting a giant godzilla dinossaur in a technocracy controlled island

shit's weird

[high current]

oh i meant the paradox backlash damage

[craggy coyote]

Instant death

They are a man punchig with the power of nuclear bombs, they either somehow have a way to force consensus, or they are imploding

[viscid stratus]

Your honor, my client is clearly wearing a cape with a large S on it, the consensus should understand

[clear delta]

Hm, so how do you guys see the requirements/common elements of thyrsus awakenings?

[high current]

tfw you try to reroll a messy crit, into another messy crit

[vast blaze]

OH MY FUCKING GOD

Okay so

Some rando Sabbat dickbag ran into the Elysium meeting to try and assassinate the local prince

My coterie managed to disable him, I decided to try KOing him to make him easier to restrain

I GODDAMN NEAR ASHED THIS MAN IN A SINGLE STRIKE

WITH A WALKING CANE

The rest of the Camarilla are now utterly fucking terrified of me and I got a merit that makes it easier to intimidate them

Jesus fuck

[lucid cape]

Making a VtM character, forgot some stuff, quick, gimme a summary of things that can make people feel something is wrong when vampires try to blend into normal society

[rapid glacier]

Like uncanny valley stuff or things that might tip off a hunter/masquerade violations

[vast blaze]

That, or it should look like Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

[vast blaze]

Made a more armored-up Gargoyle, you lot reckon it turned out decent?

Lad that's rejected his role as a slave and instead taken to being a lord, dresses himself in fancy armor and learned Lure of Flame in defiance of the Tremere

[hybrid dock]

Canto 9-OH
NOT the inferno this is a project moon thing

[clear delta]

Oh yeag sorry

Hm, can I post it here? It is just inspired by a gacha, but dunno
Gacha designs abd inspired animations do get posted around

Well, gonna be busy soon, might as well be sure

[rare swallow]

https://youtu.be/dffmTYXEgJ0?si=iti_oeCsGer2BJEe

[rare swallow]

Mr burger man about to drop more delicious lore for me to consume later today

[craggy coyote]

Crunch related question for VTM heads;
Got a brujah in V5 with potence 5 and a respec.

I'm debating between going full human blender (Brutal feed, exuberance, soaring leap) but unsure if I should also grab relentless grasp and fist of caine, or prowess fist of ciane.

Alternatively, I'm debating the classic of

Prowess, Wrecker, Exuberance, Fist of caine and a level 1 power.

Anyone have a reccomendation on what's better for fighting generally?

[rapid glacier]

Relentless Grasp is fun for wrasslin' but Prowess is basically free dice/damage

Prowess is probably going to help unless you don't fight with your hands/claws/nails/teeth/melee weapons, etc etc

[heady kestrel]

which werewolf is thtis?

[valid merlin]

Garou means it's oWoD I think?

[velvet sparrow]

Yeah

[pure mauve]

I always thought CtL was the ultimate leftist infighting simulator? But a lot of them fit the bill.

[clear delta]

Mage the awakening

New werewolf too

Geist the sin eaters

[mighty zephyr]

CtL is not leftist infighting so much as the worst polycule experience of your life

[simple valley]

CtL is the traumatized queer polycule dimension, yeah

which can include leftist infighting but mostly as as a vehicle for Everything Else Going Wrong

[radiant marsh]

What would Vampire be

"Help, I bought a timeshare and now I can't get out?"

[nimble gale]

toxic bdsm polycule simulator

[clear delta]

Vampire is being a local gang shitlord. At least in requiem

[pure mauve]

I remember thinking Mage was at least partially academic infighting at one point?

[clear delta]

Mage the awakening is

Pentacle are leftist academics

All armed, and liable to come to blows over arguments

[dense vault]

Corporate espionage and gang warfare simulator

[high current]

Tremere rolls 1 success on a mental check, after a willpower reroll

[marble sorrel]

The Spirit Beast
The Ahrimane merges with an indigenous spirit animal, and their bodies and minds become one.

System: No roll is required, but the player must spend one blood point and one Willpower point. The vampire fully merges with a spirit animal of her choice, effectively creating a new being. The vampire’s Intelligence drops by two and her Wits by one, but she is no longer affected by sunlight and may remain awake without a roll at the cost of two Willpower points daily. Since the vampire is co-inhabiting with a spirit, she can choose whether to be corporeal or incorporeal and she may travel the spirit Umbra. 

The duration of Spirit Beast is indefinite, though the vampire must pay another blood point and Willpower point to change back; a vampire who cannot pay this cost and has no means of re-acquiring either might find herself stuck.

Spiritus is a very funny discipline.

[vast blaze]

Stupid idea for a Mage chronicle

You've been shunted into another world... and that world happens to be a D&D setting

Congratulations, you are now one of the most powerful mages in the world, have fun

[high current]

assuming oMage, this runs into the issue that removing Paradox kinda neuters the fun of using the magic system

you could still have fun and get into some good shenanigans in nMage 2e though, since then basically anybody who isn't an adventurer would probably qualify as a sleeper

[clear delta]

There's probably an emanation realm of adventurers

[high current]

and nMage 2e Paradox is just amplified by Sleepers, rather than them being the entire cause

[vast blaze]

Aye, which is why I plan on using Dark Ages Mage rules instead of modern Mage

[high current]

that could work

or Victorian Mage, either way

[vast blaze]

Like, you're from modern Mage, but you use Dark Ages rules for 90% of things

10% being the off chance that someone brought a Glock or hypertech or something over

Could make the antagonists be either the literal gods themselves who are pissy that you're tearing up reality or just the Technocrats, who also figured out how to get to a new reality and are trying to force Consensus onto the world

[patent talon]

If this was nMage, I'd say it's all fun and games until a Exarchal Orchmata spawns in with the goal of forcing you back to the WoD

[vast blaze]

Old Mage, I don't care for new Mage as much

...could be interesting having them intersect with new Mage though...

Time and space start bleeding together as old WoD, new WoD, and whatever setting this is start to intermingle some

[patent talon]

Fair, following the PCs sounds like something the Technocracy would do. "Ooo, an untouched new baseline world, finally we can work our Enlightened practices without interruption-what the fuck are the Traditions doing here"

[vast blaze]

"Oh fuck me is that a literal god"

"WHY ARE YOU FUCKING WITH MY CLERICS' MAGIC YOU DICKBAG"

[patent talon]

Hell yeah, oWoD mages encountering Exarch shit would be cool and Exarchs would NOT like the Traditions. "What do you MEAN you just need to believe hard enough"

[patent talon]

Building ye olde orbital laser

But wait the Sun is actually being pulled by a chariot and Helios is Pissed

[vast blaze]

They'd fucking hate orks

New stupid idea, 40k ork that got shunted into NWoD and is currently giving every Exarch alive an aneurysm

They'd also fucking hate the Technocratic Union

Mix of "WE should be the shadow government, not YOU" and "WE should be dictating reality, not YOU"

[patent talon]

Exarchs have (supposedly) achieved what the Union only dreamed of: literally have set up reality down to like the fucking atoms. They just didn't turn off magic for some reason (maybe because they can't)

White Tower new plan: attack and dethrone the Exarchs and take over

(personally I think the Exarchs don't have the world exactly how they want it, otherwise the Diamond literally wouldn't exist, nor would the Abyss. CofD is a hack job they made in the cosmic equivalent of a hurry)

[vast blaze]

Aye

[mighty zephyr]

The Fallen World existed before the Exarchs is the thing

Just they kicked the ladder from under them so no one could reach their heights again

[clear delta]

The fallen world is more of a state
The world of reality/phenomena and the world of truth (supernal) always existed
The exarchs just climbed to truth a reprogrammed reality, and retconed things so a period before their rule wasn't known

My headcanon is the awful things from each gameline existed to an extent in the pre exarch world

And their advent created the symbolic means that the exarchs used to retcon the world

Into having always been awful

Every gameline villain/problem supports the exarchs, and the exarchs support then

[high current]

more or less confirmed in Demon Storyteller's Guide iirc, or at least Angels are known to support the Exarchs/Seers' endeavors from time to time

[marble sorrel]

DtD Demons, waving around rebellion flags: "Fascists!"

[dusky ledge]

Welp. Our v5 group has officially blown up

Perpetual clashes of personality and play style, and now two of our core members are leaving because we just can't deal with them anymore

[hybrid dock]

:(((

[rapid glacier]

Awww hate when happens

[craggy coyote]

🫡

[nimble gale]

It sucks but there will be more games

[dusky ledge]

Thankfully, the game's continuing, just without them

Long story short:

• Problem player has Mary Sue issues and is generally just bad at TTRPGs in several ways
• Problem player's boyfriend is too busy to read all the text rp himself and relies solely on the accounts given to him by problem player (and what happens during sessions)
• PP gets gradually more and more upset because he doesn't know mechanics like frenzy and hunger dice (ikr?) and makes risky choices that keep hurting other PCs
• Things come to a head when boyfriend rushes to PP's defense, forcing everything out into the open
• After I point out something he got wrong about a text scene, boyfriend starts actually reading them himself and realizes he's made a horrible mistake
• Bf posts a call-out of PP to the group and apologizes

But the damage has been done, so we're going on without them

[worthy sundial]

making a call-out of ur own partner is wild

[dusky ledge]

LITERALLY

The rest of were absolutely aghast

[worthy sundial]

u cant be doin that ttrpg player

[dusky ledge]

Like this is an exact quote

"[PP] this shit is entirely on your and [character's] perception of things, not the reality of the situations he's been put in."

[pure mauve]

I feel like this has gone from "one person is a problem player, does not pay adequate attenion" to you getting caught up indirectly in someone else's relationship drama...

[dusky ledge]

Oh no if anything this CAUSED the relationship drama

Which I won't be prying into because frankly it's not my business

[worthy sundial]

i mean it sounds like there was probly more buildup than that

[dusky ledge]

In the relationship? No idea. If there was, we didn't get any indication of it

Prior to this, bf had always STAUNCHLY defended the guy, to the point he often spoke for him

[craggy coyote]

sometimes you realize all at once you can't defend someone anymore and are done with their shit

[vast blaze]

...today in "My Sefekhi Is Fucking Terrifying"

[vast blaze]

Behold, the single stupidest character idea I've ever concocted

[clear delta]

Would be shorter to say ashtray

[high current]

Samuel Haight wannabe ass smh /j

[vast blaze]

Samuel Haight WISHES he was this mf

[viscid stratus]

I finally found an MtA game. Asked the ST how much backstory he wants
was not given an upper limit

Anyway, 7k word short story on my character's awakening https://archiveofourown.org/works/79822251

[vast blaze]

Real as fuck

If you aren't writing a novella for a backstory are you really playing Mage

[viscid stratus]

Also, I am very proud of coming up with a concept of an Entropy/Luck witch, with the Lucky merit, who explicitly follows a paradigm that does not believe in luck :v

[high current]

'i dont believe in destiny' grunts the chosen one as they plot armor their way across a battlefield without taking a single scratch to face the big bad

[viscid stratus]

Pitiable + Lucky + Entropy spells making people's guns jam when they aim at you is a hell of a way to fight, let me tell you 😛

kinda sad I didn't have the points for Nine Lives :c

[high current]

technically up to your ST but i'd say you could potentially do a spell to give yourself that merit

(or at least a similar effect)

granted it sounds like that technically goes against your paradigm so, good luck?

[viscid stratus]

You see, when I go around a building, trying every entrance to see if someone left a door unlocked (and casting an Entropy 3/Time 3 effect), that isn't luck bending, that is my will shaping a singular path from roiling chaos 😛

[daring hazel]

I have. Vampire character idea.

I have decent idea for a mage character.

For a chronicles game. Hypothetically

Everything else got nothing

Havent opened anything for a long time

[marble sorrel]

My Banu Haqim vampire has had her dark secret revealed: She likes to dress her blood bonded cat up in outfits.

[clear delta]

curious

tell me, plesase

[daring hazel]

The two thirds baked mage idea. Is probably an ex soldier whose best friend/sibling/fill in the blank died to an ied that the mage survived.

They remember their friend awakening with them but notcoming back

Specifically

Character awakened as a thysus but saw their friend going to the tower of tje lead coin

But that could be significantly retooled

Maybe a new mother who lost their significant other

And. A ghost familiar of her grandmother

@clear delta

[clear delta]

I see

Could be a metamorphic awakening

[daring hazel]

Metamorphic?

[clear delta]

awakening where something off happens and a change in the mage's life is caused

one moros example was a woman whose body died in the process of awakening but she swapped places with her sister's soul, so she was in her sister's body while her sister went to afterlife or whatever in her place

another example is coming back with an artifact

changing you body such that you lose/gain a disability, or change sex. The change may be retroactive

one mastigos fought his drug addiction during awakening, and accidentally made it so he never had an addiction

an awakening may displace you in space, or time. Mastigos or acanthus awakenings, respectively.

Generally, if it isn't about getting an artifact, a metamorphic awakening's effect will generally be something related to the realm's ruling arcana

it sounded like an iron clad rule when I read, but you can make exceptions in your game
Metamorphic awakenings are already rare, a path could just tend to have those related to its arcana

anyway, this phenomenom is generally the result of the tower's protections failing, allowing a mage to affect their existence

though there's an example where some being in the supernal deliberately guided a metamorphic awakening to retcon an apocalypse away

also, there's another, non path restricted type

sympathetic

two people sharing an awakening are liable to become sympathetically tied, deeply. as the awakening makes them considered the same person

this may lead to elements of their lives being swapped around between them

plus, they are permanently Connected. I think they can use each other's senses as one does a familiar

[daring hazel]

Insteresting.

[daring hazel]

Huh

[mighty zephyr]

New booooooooooooks

https://i.imgur.com/Rub6tEe.png

[worthy sundial]

im surprised a book like courts of the damned has taken this long to come out

[mighty zephyr]

I think after White Wolf did the Cam and Anarch books it probably felt better to do other subjects first

[worthy sundial]

fair i suppose

[craggy coyote]

I'm not objecting to court lineages and related merits though

[lucid cape]

More wolves, raah!

[rapid glacier]

hearing good stuff about the W5 books, gonna have to pick those up, I don't normally snag the chronicle books

[vast blaze]

Idea for a character

Gargoyle that was once of Clan Tzimisce, managed to cling onto his mastery of Vicissitude when he was Frankenstein'd

And now his Zulo form is just a giant stone-scaled dragon

[hallow marlin]

When the rokea pops up in gladius form just in time to eat a silver claymore to the face

[viscid stratus]

Tonight in Vampire: the Masquerade - a Ventrue primogen, and his two elder-adjacent hench people (Tremere + Brujah) walk out of a building to get confronted by:
A setite ancilla npc (who immediately dipped when he saw how much smoke we got)
A bunch of kine mercenaries of dubious quality
A (telyavel) Tremere ancilla, who looks like a twenty-year old heroin addict and spent the last three decades of being a vampire mostly in a library (me)
-# This fight went a lot better than the odds you'd get for this on polymarket :V

[hallow marlin]

Tremere elder adjacent was all i had to hear to know which side id bet on

[viscid stratus]

You know what, fair

that elder is now staked, in a trashbag, in my trunk

[hallow marlin]

rip bozo

In my game ive taken over gming after the previous gm finished his planned story, and my pc was a tremere ancillae :3

[viscid stratus]

Which tremere flavor was yours?

[hallow marlin]

Slightly more leaning towards toreadorish? She's a bon vivant

But basically obsessed with learning thaumaturgical secrets

Basically a high functioning addict

V20 game btw

[viscid stratus]

Yeah the lengths I had to go through to get a playable v5 tremere

[hallow marlin]

Yeahh rip

they gutted thaumaturgy tbh

which is kinda fair? its broken as hell in v20

[viscid stratus]

oh I know, why do you think I had to write like... ten pages worth of 5e rules for an obscure clan sect from the depth of the sourcebook mines q.q

[hallow marlin]

makesss sense

rn my coterie is preparing to ambush a sabbat pack whove holed up in an abandoned mansion

the youngest members sire is actually part of said pack, which is going to lead to a pretty dramatic confrontation hopefully

Theyre talking about recruiting a coterie of three that are basically a polycule whom run a club to help

(Said coterie is actually a malk, tremere, and tzimisce)

[hallow marlin]

Said sire is quite fond of just turning to mist to run away; so the plan is to give said player a stone of true form to use against him

:3

Its gonna be a big mess, hopefully fun

[fathom haven]

How do you do, fellow creatures of the night? :]

[vast blaze]

AGH, A VAMPIRE

https://tenor.com/view/explosao-gumball-watterson-darwin-watterson-mrs-jötunheim-o-incrível-mundo-de-gumball-gif-16701130

[fathom haven]

I am more akin to my beloved Garou unfortunately

Which is uh
Unfortunate, given the state of older books and such

[vast blaze]

Eesh, yeah

[fathom haven]

Which is also why I love Chronicles of Darkness so much!

I love Werewolf the Forsaken, Vampire the Requiem, Changeling the Lost! I love old and new! And taking the non-problematic parts of both and mashing them together!

[vast blaze]

Eh

I prefer OwOD lore

Especially in regards to Mage

[fathom haven]

I'm gonna be 100%

I unfortunately don't like Mage 😔

[vast blaze]

Exarchs are... cool, I suppose? But I prefer the hypertech New World Order Men In Black with space marines and super cool sci fi shit.

[fathom haven]

Mummy caught my interest more than Mage did, unfortunately

[vast blaze]

https://tenor.com/view/wizard-wizard-war-manual-breathing-silly-funny-gif-17753128467277352979

Mummy's definitely my favorite splat

...I prefer OwOD Mummy though tbh

[fathom haven]

I like both, but I def prefer old mummy yeah

[daring hazel]

...i never got around reading mummy the curse.

[fathom haven]

I love Promethean

[daring hazel]

I had a chance to pick up the 2e core book.

[vast blaze]

NWoD Mummy is neat, it's just I prefer OWoD's theme of "You are literally the ONE unilateral Good Guy on the planet"

[daring hazel]

Promethean is neat.

So is changeling.

[vast blaze]

I wanna like Promethean but it focuses too much on Becoming A Real Boy for my taste

[fathom haven]

Changeling the Dreaming and Changeling the Lost my beloveds

[vast blaze]

Which as someone who likes playing cool robots doesn't jive with me as much

[fathom haven]

Very fair

[daring hazel]

nodnod that makes sense.

[fathom haven]

I think I love the tragedy of it? That's why I like most world of darkness splats, just how sad it can be

Except for werewolf

[vast blaze]

Why the fuck would I wanna be a lame boring human when I could be a ten foot tall metal man with laser eyes and rocket pods and a jetpack and Bluetooth and built in cup holders

[fathom haven]

If I read into werewolf for too long it just straight up makes me depressed

As an environmentalist

[vast blaze]

Eh

[daring hazel]

I think getting to play my vampire someday would be cool

[mighty zephyr]

It's cathartic to Just Do The Thing we all wanna do at least

[vast blaze]

Helps me feel slightly better because at least in Werewolf I can rip apart the bastards killing everything

[pure mauve]

I just want to play Geist someday. I probably never will.

[vast blaze]

Can't do shit irl

[fathom haven]

TRUE

[mighty zephyr]

Just run Geist

fivehead

[vast blaze]

Have you tried community RP servers?

I'm in one that I'm quite fond of, a Stockholm-based one

[daring hazel]

I havent. Sounds scary. But I could try.

[mighty zephyr]

I wouldn't recommend that as a first dive into a system tbh

[vast blaze]

D'you want me to shoot you a link?

Yeah, true

[fathom haven]

I think that's why it makes me sad? Because I can't do anything irl, so I have to cope by having my beefed up Red Talon use a ceo's guts to commune with Griffin

[vast blaze]

Better to dip your toes in as a player in a regular game

[fathom haven]

....

Ya know

I have ran a few games before

[vast blaze]

...tangientially related, but I still wanna play that really stupid Mummy idea I got

Was a Gargoyle some Tremere Frankenstein'd together, found out about the Children of Osiris somehow, managed to overcome his vampirism and got Osiris to cure him, got killed in an incident involving the Tremere and the Judges saw fit to revive him as an Amenti, and now there's just this hulking towering dragon-man with stone skin that's also an Amenti lumbering around.

[fathom haven]

That is

The coolest idea I've ever read

[vast blaze]

It'd be really easy to simulate it too

Take Enhancements and some biomods for wings and armor and flavor them as the vestigial Gargoyle physiology

[fathom haven]

Very true very true

[vast blaze]

Cross splat game

[fathom haven]

I have! And am willing to do so again

[vast blaze]

Dewit, it'll be fun and cool and good

[fathom haven]

Perhaps soon, when my streak of open to closes is finished

[hybrid dock]

an odd question, but the vampire 2e book i've been reading hasnt really answered
While vampires cant really eat food, and even with the blush of life still have to puke it up later

can vampires do drugs?

cus, there's rules for addiction and being poisoned but i dunno if that's just for mortals

[fathom haven]

So! Vampires can do drugs via drinking a mortal's blood who has that drug in their system

[hybrid dock]

right

but

does that mean that they cannot get high normally-
or, would putting a drug in a bloodbag also function

-# would dunking food into blood make it half edible?

odd logistical questions but im curious about it

[fathom haven]

They cannot get high normally unless it is something that specifically states it can effect kindred

[hybrid dock]

mhm mhm

[fathom haven]

As for the blood bag, no, as it's bagged blood, it's not currently running through a mortal's blood stream

It's why blood bags are only worth a few blood points at best

[hybrid dock]

yeah i got that part

fresh blood is better than cold blood

interesting though

so the mortal has to be alive for substances in the bloodstream to affect the vampire

[fathom haven]

Yes

[hybrid dock]

mhm mhm

[fathom haven]

Anything else I can help with? :]

[upbeat forge]

I have a question about Mage (the Ascension), actually, if I may: which uses of Prime actually spend Quintessence? The M20 book isn't very helpful (in general, honestly)
I've gathered that creating something in tandem with another sphere is either 1 point or none, but definitely at least 1 if it's something permanent, and the book explicitly says that an attack using only Prime needs 1 point/damage, but what about attacks with other spheres, or enchanting items to deal/resist aggravated damage?
I'd also appreciate some cliffnotes on Talisman creation, if anyone can spare the time

[fathom haven]

That one I unfortunately don't know, I don't touch mage 😔

[mighty zephyr]

Every prime effect can spend quintessence because quintessence is largely used in conjuction with the Avatar merit to lower difficulty

If you are looking for specific effects I would read How Do You Do That to get an understanding of the intent behind m20

[upbeat forge]

I've skimmed it, and I can't find what I'm looking for except for pure Prime attacks, where it seems to directly contradict the core book ("Costs one Quintessence per health level inflicted" there vs "Each application of such energy uses one Quintessence point per turn" in HDYDT)

[mighty zephyr]

M20 does not have consistent or good rules no

[hybrid dock]

Besides being a really cool backstory concept, what reasons would a strix have for…doing this.

[fathom haven]

Another free source of Vitae to snack on, I would think?

I need to look into Requiem a bit more

[hybrid dock]

This would immediately eat into their shadow potency though, aka their progression stat

Just to make a new kindred from scratch

Objectively a ton of cool backstory potential, especially since if it’s done to a living host and it succeeds they’re actually relatively high humanity

The other options Make lower humanity freaks I suppose

[fathom haven]

Hmm

Can Strix interact with the physical world?

[hybrid dock]

Yeah

Well, kinda

Not much but

Possession is way cheaper power wise than this

They can possess corpses, revenants, kindred, even the living already

[fathom haven]

Could it be to blend in?? Idk, I need to read up on them more

[hybrid dock]

They’re notably really good at blending in

Even among other kindred

Even auspex reveals them as just being kindred except they committed diablerie

Plus this isn’t reversible

It seems they just infuse pieces of themselves into a body to make a kindred, and if they’re destroyed in the process they just infused their whole ass in there

The reasons I can see for using this are…I mean I guess if a strix really wants to have a more permanent life and body??
If the body is destroyed they won’t really survive that cus they’d be kindred now

Unclear if they keep memories too

If they kill a living host for it then they might be at high humanity too. Which…very fun

[heady kestrel]

Being a Strix doesn’t exactly seem like a… good existence

[hybrid dock]

They are little haters yeah

And shadow potency 6 ain’t easy to reach

Only elder strix or successful killer strix would reach that

Takes 600 years if you’re not eating other vampires or strix

It makes for a fun character backstory
“Got possessed by a strix which fused into the body and became a vampire without a sire” is fun

[worthy sundial]

for funs

[hybrid dock]

Lmao

Obliterates my self and becomes something new within the body for the bit.
Based tbh

[heady kestrel]

This is also weirdly consistent with a lot of the “where kindred come from” theories

I know that’s not necessarily the topic right now but still interesting to point out

“Possessed by some sort of spirit”

[hybrid dock]

It’s really funny that if this is done on a dead guy or anything else, it tends to result in lower humanity freaks.

But if it’s done on a living person that dies in the process, they just

They don’t actually have any humanity loss and become a vampire as normal

[heady kestrel]

Yeah

[hybrid dock]

If nothing else it does allow for vampires to be created even without other kindred

Strix are weirdos

[worthy sundial]

i will say the strix do legitimately just hate life in all its forms including the dead

[hybrid dock]

Yea

They do

[heady kestrel]

Doesn’t the book also mention thay if they do this to a splatted person it comes out as something Wack

[hybrid dock]

Which makes this power funny as fuck

Cus I feel like in most scenarios

They have to stop or at least cool off being a little hater to consider using this

[worthy sundial]

well they wouldnt be v powerful if they gave up on being a hater

[hybrid dock]

True

And yet this is shadow potency 6

So only a powerful strix could

[worthy sundial]

strix on that hatemaxxing grindset

[hybrid dock]

Yeah

[worthy sundial]

corpsemogs the kindred

[hybrid dock]

They would they would

It’s what makes this power so fucking funny

Lemme double check what the other shadow potency abilities are beyond this one

[worthy sundial]

holdon lemme find that tweet again i have a terrible idea

[hybrid dock]

Materializing, teleporting, entering twilight, making portals

That’s what 7+ has

[worthy sundial]

Kindred was mid vitaegooning when a group of strigoids came & embodied her corpse

[hybrid dock]

Sorry , making a shadow realm. Not portal

[hybrid dock]

Hatred

[heady kestrel]

That’s what the Strix feel

[worthy sundial]

actually nothing abt this power says the strix cant share the body,,

new harry dubois just dropped

[hybrid dock]

This is true

[worthy sundial]

unless embodiment requires one person only in which case boring

[hybrid dock]

If you want a kindred to possess

You can do this

It’s just…

I mean that’s shadow potency gone

Spent for this

In fact it seems to be a similar roll to strix reproduction

Okay no it’s not similar
Strix reproduction rolls potency as a dice pool

This rolls power + finesse

The risk is, if the strix is destroyed in the process, that implies fully being subsumed into the body

[heady kestrel]

Vampires and Strix are low-key the most mysterious splats

Because not even they seem to know their own metaphysics

[worthy sundial]

this may explain why theyd do this

[hybrid dock]

True

If nothing else. It is a method to steal something from the living.

A physical body

[heady kestrel]

Strix
Synthesis
Join the Ordo Dracul
Follow the heretical coil of humanity
Succeed, become human
eat an edible

[hybrid dock]

FINALLY

[worthy sundial]

strix who just wants cocaine

[hybrid dock]

A SCHEME 600 YEARS IN THE MAKING

Unclear if the resulting kindred keeps strix memories.
Or at least, 2e doesn’t say.

Makes for hella backstory juice tho

[heady kestrel]

I still love the idea of a Beast who fw a Strix

[hybrid dock]

Me and da bird

The perfidious ugallu and her wicked owl

[heady kestrel]

Make a kindred nightmare that makes whoever you point it at unable to experience pleasure

[hybrid dock]

That is a good nightmare

They throw up the food they eat, their skin becomes cold, and they just can’t feel pleasure for the duration of it

[heady kestrel]

Yeah!

I feel like Kindred Nightmares are their best when they inflict Splat Angst On Random Mortals

[patent talon]

Strix who becomes a Kindred and then is like "hey, this isn't like being alive at all!" and is even more pissed off

[hybrid dock]

lmao yeah

on the bright side

access to blush of life

so

there's options

[patent talon]

So if you have Shadow Potency left over the Strix remains as well as they new Kindred-from-a-Strix? Mother Strix and her sorta-sire/sorta clone

[hybrid dock]

possibly

strix reproduce by splitting off their shadow potency into a child

so if the strix survives they split off their shadow potency into a...kindred

[hybrid dock]

yeah
especially since Beast Nightmares are about the horror of the splat rather than what the splat does

it's about the themes the splat plays with.
changeling nightmares involve the horror of becoming one, the horror of getting lost in the woods.

so, "everything is cold and I am dead and nothing feels good anymore" is perfect for kindred nightmares

[heady kestrel]

I wonder, if you are good enough to caarefully control how much shaddow potency you lose

if you could use WEIRDD ass schemes

[hybrid dock]

maybe

the base rules for reproduction is rolling your shadow potency and every success is a shadow potency lost and made into a new strix

i will say
strix shadow realm can summon new strix. and strix can sometimes bring other strix into the mix. theyre solitary predators but they can work together

[heady kestrel]

a proper Parliament

[heady kestrel]

random note

the kinndred option would theoretically let a strix create a Very Very Strong Vampire with Very Little Humanity

[hybrid dock]

yeah