Princes of the City: Anyone Want to Bite?

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:57 pm

My midterms end in around 30 hours, so I think I might be able to finish off in maybe 48-72.

No rush, focus on your midterms.

When it comes to the allies background, what do 'quite influential', 'very influential' and 'extremely influential' mean?

They leave it pretty deliberately vague, but probably it's a city/region/national kinda thing - the POTUS' Chief of Staff would probably be "extremely influential," the local superintendent of schools "quite influential."

What are the options available for Supernatural Companion in this setting? Any suggestions?

Anything in oWoD is fair game; I was going to minimize the other supernaturals in Juneau just because...well, it's already hosting over half a dozen vampires and associated ghouls.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 9:35 pm

Pssst... go for an earthbound.

Shady314 · Post by **Shady314** » Mon Mar 16, 2015 2:07 am

Don't forget to add any rituals of appropriate level for those characters that have Thaumaturgy.

And Seth and Kel each grant 6xp each for skills but only skills they themselves possess and no higher if I remember that right.

I'll add any equipment and havens and spend my last point and xp by tomorrow or the day after.

Some consolidation of the skills and resources of the group to keep in mind when making a character.
Kel can handle difficulty 7 medicine checks and Suzanne has a Doctor contact. Also Kel has crazy surgery abilities I believe. He also has animal spies to watch the forest specifically but also inside the city as well.
Suzanne also has legal contacts in the airport and docks as well as a police lieutenant and Verge has the DA. Verge also has a TSA contact as well as an animal control officer. He may add a criminal contact that can inform him about those sneaking in under the radar.
Ia has a grifter with a PI license to shadow people and steal stuff as well as assist in setting up any sort of cons we may come up with to cover anything up.
Seth has a lock on handling any electronic problems.
Constantin seems to be party face and spy. He has two major sources in Sealaska, a principal and a priest.
Max may be in torpor or switch some stuff around.

The group has lots of money, occult lore, sources of blood and humans/animals willing to die for us.

Speak up if you notice any obvious shortcomings or glaring weaknesses before we're finalized.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 11:26 pm

Aside from Rad, everyone else chime in if they're done or need more time.

Shady314 · Post by **Shady314** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 12:28 am

I'm done.

Contingencies: If you give Ia a personal possession of yours he can Scry you in case of emergencies and you would be aware of this so you can also pass messages.

EDIT: Actually a personal possession of anyone you care about. Contacts, Allies, Retainers etc. I have one for my retainer Victoria.

Nebuchadnezzar · Post by **Nebuchadnezzar** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 1:16 am

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 4:32 am

Kel's done, I picked out the following rituals-
Impassible Trail (level 2)
Craft Bloodstone (level 2)
Friend of the Trees (level 2)
Illusion of Peaceful Death (Level 3)
Defense of the Sacred Haven (Level 1)
Dominoe of Life (Level 1)

and dropped Protean a point to put it into Thaum instead so I have the first Green Path power.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 4:54 am

Yeah, done.

Shady314 · Post by **Shady314** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 5:21 am

Prak wrote:Kel's done, I picked out the following rituals-
Impassible Trail (level 2)
Craft Bloodstone (level 2)
Friend of the Trees (level 2)
Illusion of Peaceful Death (Level 3)
Defense of the Sacred Haven (Level 1)
Dominoe of Life (Level 1)

and dropped Protean a point to put it into Thaum instead so I have the first Green Path power.

Unless I misunderstood AH you only get a ritual for each dot of Thaumaturgy you have not each Path. Hopefully I did misunderstand him because I love rituals. It'd still be three not six though because all points in Thaumaturgy Discipline go to Primary Path. Thaumaturgy always equals Primary Path until we get to 7th gen and lower advanced disciplines but that just gets you high level rituals and secondary path dots.
You're supposed to buy Secondary Paths with XP but I did it at the same cost in freebies as attributes because they shared the same xp costs. The corebook really doesn't expect the ST to have you start with more than 15.

Anyways I believe it'd be 14 freebies for the two out of clan discipline dots in Thaumaturgy which gives Biothaum 2 and then 5 freebies for a Secondary Path dot of Green.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 6:03 am

AH also said Blood Thaum has rules for using freebie/xp to buy more rituals, at a cost equal to level.

As I understand it, you can start a second path as soon as your primary has two dots, because the second just needs to be lower than the first.

hyzmarca · Post by **hyzmarca** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 6:45 am

I think I'm finished.

Shady314 · Post by **Shady314** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 7:58 am

Prak wrote:AH also said Blood Thaum has rules for using freebie/xp to buy more rituals, at a cost equal to level.
As I understand it, you can start a second path as soon as your primary has two dots, because the second just needs to be lower than the first.

He said he thought the Clanbook Tremere book did but I checked and it didn't unless it was pre-revised. Then he said

Huh. Maybe I was thinking of pre-Revised. Oh well. If you want a particular ritual above and beyond your free ones, call it 3 Freebie points each.

which is what I paid. Unless I missed something he said in a later post. There's nothing in Blood Magic I could find. Only learning rituals not buying them at creation.

Yes you can start a second path but not from increasing Thaumaturgy Discipline.

When a character first learns Thaumaturgy, the player selects a path for the character. That path is considered the character's
primary path, and she automatically receives one dot in it, as well as one Level One ritual. Thereafter, whenever the character increases her level in Thaumaturgy, her score in the primary path increases by one as well.

A few sentences later.

If a character reaches Level Five in her primary path and increases her Thaumaturgy score
afferward, she may allocate her "free" path dot to a different path.

It's a separate thing with different xp costs. The corebook allows for no way to purchase a secondary path with freebies (unless exceeding 5 dots in the discipline). I went with 5 freebies for a second path because the xp costs matched the costs for attributes. If that's kewl with AH and you do the same you'd get 2 freebies back.

Anyways it's a question for AH. I actually see a few discrepancies in stats I earlier chalked up to people still working on their characters but now that their done I wanted to check as I only recently learned this system and am thus a noob.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 9:09 am

It's in Blood Magic, it's the "For Storytellers" page-sized sidebar that follows the bit about how many rituals you get. I forgot about the three per thing. AH, let me know which you want to use.

I'll have to take a look at Thaum, since apparently I have quite a few misconceptions. How do you want to handle picking up a second path, AH?

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 9:55 am

Shady314 wrote:
Huh. Maybe I was thinking of pre-Revised. Oh well. If you want a particular ritual above and beyond your free ones, call it 3 Freebie points each.
which is what I paid. Unless I missed something he said in a later post. There's nothing in Blood Magic I could find. Only learning rituals not buying them at creation.

That's what I said, and I'm sticking to it.

I went with 5 freebies for a second path because the xp costs matched the costs for attributes. If that's kewl with AH and you do the same you'd get 2 freebies back.

Anyways it's a question for AH. I actually see a few discrepancies in stats I earlier chalked up to people still working on their characters but now that their done I wanted to check as I only recently learned this system and am thus a noob.

I'd forgotten about the "no secondary path costs listed." 5 fb per dot in secondary paths seems more than fair to me. So mote it be!

Shady314 · Post by **Shady314** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 10:14 am

Prak wrote:It's in Blood Magic, it's the "For Storytellers" page-sized sidebar that follows the bit about how many rituals you get. I forgot about the three per thing. AH, let me know which you want to use.

I'll have to take a look at Thaum, since apparently I have quite a few misconceptions. How do you want to handle picking up a second path, AH?

EDIT:The one on page 88? That only gives xp costs not freebie costs. Also it's an optional suggestion to the ST as the official way is to learn them xp free. There's no official way to convert freebies to XP. A 1 for 1 conversion of freebies to XP would be pretty harsh. AH has spoken.

@AH Is it ok if I've used the 6 months in Juneau to learn rituals in my downtime as that is the role I want to play in our court so I imagine that's how I would have spent most of my time to earn my keep in the group. Especially with access to Kel's library. The rules are on Blood Magic p. 86 Learning a Level 1 ritual takes a week, Level 2 a month and Level 3 three months.

I would use it to learn

Level 1 (1 month)
Warding Baptism Blood Sacrifice p.47
Bind the Accusing Tongue Guide to the Camarilla p.110
Engaging the Vessel of Transference. Guide to the Camarilla p.110
Wake with Evening's Freshness Corebook

Level 2 (2 months)
Principle of Vitae Corebook
Iron Body Guide to the Anarchs p.163

Level 3 (3 months)
Mirror of Second Sight Guide to the Sabbat p. 120
I suppose that totally undercuts the freebies for rituals decision so never mind.

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 1:51 pm

I've been crazy busy because a "silent" partner in the bar I have been co-managing threw a gigantic hissy fit just days before Saint Paddy's day like a fucking tool. Anyway, If people don't mind me coming out of torpor I'd roll with a sheet that looks like this now:

Name: Maximo Altamirano/Matlal, priest of Macuilcozcacuahtli (just call him Max)
Clan: Follower of Set (Tlacique)
Generation:8
Concept: Lifestyle Coach, Addiction Counselor & Vulture God of Gluttony & Excess
Nature: Curmudgeon
Demeanor: Visionary

Attributes:
Strength 2, Dexterity 4 (Lightning Reflexes), Stamina 2
Charisma 4 (Unflappable), Manipulation 2, Appearance 4 (can get away with wearing outlandish things)
Perception 2, Intelligence 2, Wits 2

Talents: 5
Empathy:3
Intimidation:1
Brawl:2 (+1 via xp)

Skills: 9
Melee:5 (+2 via Freebies, sword specialization)
Animal Ken:2 (+1 via xp)
Performance:1
Stealth:1
Security:1
Firearms:1
Etiquette:1

Knowledges: 13
Linguistics:3 (Extra Languages Known: Nahuatl, Spanish, Egyptian Arabic, Russian)
Investigation:2(+1 via xp)
Medicine:2 (+1 via xp)
Computer:2 (+1 via xp)
Occult:2 (+1 via xp)
Academics:1
Science:1
Politics:2
Finance:1
Law:1

Backgrounds:
Generation:5
Holdings:1 (New Lodge Recovery Center)
Elder Status:1 (Max for the most part has flown under the radar during his unlife, but he is not unknown amongst Elders)
Occult Library:2
Retainers:2
Pooled:1

Disciplines:
Clan: Protean, Obfuscate, Presence
Presence:3
Out-of-Clan: Thaumaturgy 5
Path: The Focused Mind

Rituals:
Sense the Mystical
Extinguish
Incorporeal Passage
Strength of the Vanquished
Severance

Virtues:
Conscience 3, Self-Control 2, Courage 5

Humanity: 5
Willpower: 10
Blood Pool: 15

Merits/Flaws:

Eat Food: 1-pt. Merit
While he gains no nourishment from doing so Max has the capacity to eat food and even savor its taste.

Lunacy: 2-pt. Flaw
Max is affected by astronomical events, increasing his chance to frenzy. Under the crescent moon, difficulties to avoid frenzy increase by one. Under the half or gibbous moon, difficulties rise by two. When the moon is full, difficulties increase by three.

Vengeful Childe: 2-pt. Flaw
Max's only known "living" childe, Michael Aronsen, loathes him and actively works to his detriment. Further information is under Important People.

Routine: 2-pt. Flaw
Max still observes many old rituals and maintains his own star charts and calendar in accordance with the old ways, a habit which renders him somewhat predictable. The Storyteller may lower the
difficulty 1 to 3 points for those hoping to use knowledge of Max's routine to catch him off-guard.

Vainglorious: 1-pt. Flaw
Max knows he deserves any praise he receives. He faces an increase of one difficulty level when resisting any attempts at Manipulation using flattery (the modifier is doubled if the sycophant has the flattery specialty).

Description:
Max is by all appearances a lean and handsome man of obvious Mesoamerican descent. Between his dreadlocks and fondness for jewelry his fashion sense comes across as more than a little bit rock star. He never, ever wears business casual. Ever.

Backstory:

Max is a 528 year old Tlacique who first fell into torpor during the fall of the Aztec Empire. At that that time he served as one of many god-priests of excess and renewal. In this role he would break and rebuild those who could not tame their desires, or, failing that, deprive them of their lifeblood. In modern nights Max has found common cause with the Followers of Set, who seem to view his practices as an honorable "Mask of Set." His goal in moving to Juneau is to shed a previous mortal identity and settle down comfortably with a nice little cult of his very own. To this end, he has invested his resources in establishing the "New Lodge" luxury rehab clinic overseen primarily by his ghoul retainers and herd. Max manages this feat largely through vaguely New Age bullshit combined with his own personal brand of replacement therapy--few things can compete with hard drugs quite like repeat applications of Presence and the Kiss.

Important People
Michael Aronsen
Age: 27 (age of Embrace), 56 (actual)
Generation: 9
Gender: Male
Relation: Childe
Status: Presumed Alive & Active
Some people believe that the most hopeless addicts can only conquer their vices after hitting bottom. Max and other Followers of Set have experimented with this idea and have experimented with speeding an addict's descent, a practice they call "The Nudge." One of the people Max nudged by is a brilliant young lawyer with a severe alcohol problem by the name of Michael Aronsen. Surprisingly, being fired was enough to convince Michael to conquer his addiction so swiftly and decisively that Max later decided to gift Michael with the Embrace. The subsequent alliance ended spectacularly in 1992 when Michael was able to confirm that Max had arranged for some of the misfortunes he had faced as a mortal. They have not been on speaking terms since and Max currently does not know Michael's whereabouts or allegiances.

Necahual
Apparent Age: late teens, early 20s, actual age unknown
Generation: 7
Gender: Female
Relation: Sire
Status: Unknown, presumed to have met final death.
Max's relationship with his sire Necahual was a rather ambivalent one. While a vampire of considerable power and beauty, Necahual was not high enough in the vampire hierarchy to select her own childer and they both initially resisted the mutual blood bond mandated by the higher ups. It's been 500 years though now, maybe they'd laugh about it if it turns out she's alive. Okay, probably not.

Margaret Loban, MD
Age: 37
Gender: Female
Relation: Ghoul Retainer & Medical Director
Maggie Loban is a modest bodyguard, a mediocre doctor and a good manager. Her organizational skills and mature, effortless sense of style and general unscrupulousness makes her the perfect front woman for the New Lodge's day-to-day operations. She just has a real knack for lending an air of legitimacy and class to vampire blood cults.

Michael Yee
Gender: Male
Age: 42
Relation: Ghoul Retainer & Yoga Instructor
Mike Yee is such a friendly guy that most people would never guess that he learned to box in Corcoran prison while serving time for battery and drug possession. He's a capable fitness guru and mentor for recovering addicts and ultimately his criminal past is a pretty small potatoes compared to the whole vampire blood slave thing.

The nit-pickiest changes are to abilities and attributes. Conceptually, the big changes would be that I swapped out some merits in exchange for a couple retainers and his own holding in the form of a private luxury rehab clinic. He's only investing a single point in the group pool, so lemme know if that's too much free loading for the group pool concepts we've got going. Oh, and I shifted emphasis a bit away from social stuff in favor of general knowledge and some Melee investment--melee is kinda shit in WoD compared to the social powers he's already got, but combined with Focused Mind and blood points Max can throw down that way surprisingly well compared to a lot of builds, which is kinda fun. I could plunder some of those points for other stuff though if people want more in the group pool tho.

Shady314 · Post by **Shady314** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 10:58 pm

Happy to have you back.

Nebuchadnezzar · Post by **Nebuchadnezzar** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 12:05 am

hyzmarca: It looks like you're still putting 10 points into the pool, while also still buying personal Resources. The pool is currently based on your character only putting in 5 points, so we'd need to know what you'd like the extra 5 to represent. Also, since stuff like Verge's car/guns/plane can come out of pooled Resources, those freebies could be reallocated. An easy way to get rid of excess points would be to drop pool contribution to 6, drop personal Resources, and bump Auspex up to 4.

whipstitch: How would you like that pooled point to be spent?

Shady314 · Post by **Shady314** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 12:50 am

More contingencies. Ia has stocked many fire extinguishers in Verge's Transam, his boat and around our holdings and makes sure they are all replaced on schedule. They are one of the greatest inventions ever.

I'm sure Verge's car probably also has a full complement of emergency supplies alongside all kinds of private eye gear. Parabolic mics, NVG, etc.

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 1:22 am

I'm open to suggestions about the Background point, particularly since I'm not entirely sure what kind of dots are necessary for the kind of operation I'm thinking of. Being one of the idle rich is a lot simpler to suss out than having various levels of mortal cooperation so I'm rather curious what AH thinks such an operation would look like in terms of dots.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 1:25 am

There's a lot of stuff that can be handled with points, and some stuff that can't. So if you guys want to declare that you have a weapon, a small stash of stakes, and a gallon of holy water in your haven as part of an emergency kit, I consider that part of the fluffing-out.

hyzmarca · Post by **hyzmarca** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 1:48 am

Nebuchadnezzar wrote:hyzmarca: It looks like you're still putting 10 points into the pool, while also still buying personal Resources. The pool is currently based on your character only putting in 5 points, so we'd need to know what you'd like the extra 5 to represent. Also, since stuff like Verge's car/guns/plane can come out of pooled Resources, those freebies could be reallocated. An easy way to get rid of excess points would be to drop pool contribution to 6, drop personal Resources, and bump Auspex up to 4.

If I took Auspex 4 then my character wouldn't be able to stop comparing himself to Edward Cullen.

Hmm, Likeness of a Saint is a one point merit....

I could also probably free up 4 points by switching back to Humanity, the only reason I took a Path was that I found the idea of a universal human morality to be deeply stupid, especially one that is absolute and immune to all justifications and situational modifiers.

Shady314 · Post by **Shady314** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 8:32 am

Pick a Road instead of a Path. Ia would happily teach his. Back in his day things worked a little different.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 9:53 pm

So, does everybody think they can get their characters finished and ready to start play by, say, next Monday?

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 10:42 pm

Definitely.