The Loop and the Lariat
Introduction
Our modern world is built on old bones. This has always been true, and these bones have always been strong. Until now.
The elder creatures who laid the seeds of power centuries and millennia ago are beginning to lose their tight grip on the reins of power. The world grows more chaotic. This is no accident. The chaos is by design. It is caused by those who want power trying to pry it from those who have it.
The old houses and clans, the ones who value stability and a return on their investment on entrenched power, are loosely affiliated in an alliance known in whispered corners as The Loop, drawing its name from an ancient European vampire clan’s family crest, bearing a loop of rope with its ends crossed. The Durad family of Montenegro is one of the oldest underground power brokers in Europe, and have taken their crest to heart, ensuring that those they wield their soft power over are bound by the order they have set out. Their influence is slow, and their patience is vast. They place the pieces with care and allow the game to play out accordingly. They protect the relatively small population of vampires from humanity by preserving the shroud – the illusion that they do not exist. They gain wealth and influence, feeding grounds and supplicants. Their structure is that of a noble family, and they wear it on their sleeves, setting the example for the other clans and houses in the Loop – universally old, wealthy ones that have a vested interest in the stability of the systems that sustain them.
This, of course, antagonizes those who are excluded from those hallowed Gothic halls of power.
On the other side of the Atlantic ocean, a more libertarian, anarchic current has stirred. A more recent power broker in the underworld, the Elderidge family, has shaken loose from the control of the Loop. Dissatisfied with the limitations placed on less-powerful clans by the Loop, the Elderidges have systematically turned clan after clan, house after house, against the old guard, promising a less subtle exertion of power. Not satisfied to simply pull the strings, the Elderidges intend to take direct action to control the world they live in. They strike fast, hold fast to the power they acquire. They wrangle their prey and herd them in advantageous directions. They are power brokers the way a paramilitary group becomes a power broker: by simply being too big a threat to ignore. Based in Texas, they twist the icon of the Loop to something less passive: a Lariat. The Lariat are tired of the underground, tired of the shroud, tired of the shadows. Tired of a limit on their wealth and influence. They operate more like an organized crime family, with the inner circle populated almost entirely by the Elderidges. Naturally, there are those who think that they can do things better, and bide their time waiting to wrest power from the Elderidges.
Both sides have operatives everywhere, working in the dark underground to influence politics, gain familiars, make money, undermine their opponents (both in the opposing faction and within their own), and ultimately destroy their enemies.
Genre
Dark Urban Fantasy, Vampire
Setting
Modern, but flashbacks to historical periods are encouraged! I intend to explore how some characters were turned, I hope to play with how certain relationships between individuals and houses came to be. I think it would be fun to explore the current conflict through historical fiction lenses sometimes. Basically don’t feel limited by the modern setting if you want to explore other stuff, but let’s keep the bulk of the storytelling modern.
Players
The goal is to have players create their own house or clan, affiliated with either the Loop or the Lariat. Let’s try to have everyone pick a side, please. This doesn’t mean that affiliation can’t shift or betrayals can’t happen, but let’s avoid fence-sitters at the beginning.
As "GM" I would aim to play a house myself, but also nudge the factions in one direction or another by RPing key members of the Durads and Elderidges, as needed, but honestly I’d love to leave the action as open as possible.
Given that you’re in control of your own house, you’d be in charge of deciding:
• Where, geographically, are you located? I encourage people to learn a bit outside their comfort zone! The fun thing about this is that we can have a globe-trotting game with houses operating via different characters in different places around the world.
• What is your relative power and reach? Are you a small but noble house? Wealthy and powerful? Populous but distributed thinly across the globe? Localized in one place?
• Which characters within that house are you going to write? Who do you need to tell the story of your house during the power struggle between the Loop and the Lariat?
• What is your house’s ultimate goal? Are you a staunch defender of the Durad family? Personally ambitious like the Elderidges? Anarchic and malevolent? Sworn to destroy another house? Motivated by greed? Are you a vampire supremacist, marching at the forefront of the Lariat’s power grab? Or do you want to maintain the shroud and preserve the cover that the Loop has defended for centuries?
Questions for you
I want to leave this as open-ended as possible so that we all share ownership over the story, but every fantasy world needs to have some rules. Can I get your feedback on these in the comments?
• Should we have more dark creatures than just different flavours of vampires?
• I tend to prefer the pseudo-scientific approach of, say, Blade over the floaty fantasy of Interview with a Vampire. But I’m open to magic, I’m just not super familiar with magic systems so I’d appreciate input on this one. What do you think? Magic or no? And if yes, to what end? And what kind of limitations on the magic system make sense?
• Should there be some established “hunters” in the world? Or is the truth of the existence of vampires only just beginning to be known?
About that 18+ tag
Vampire fiction always implies a degree of… well, intimacy and violence. I think the genre is suited for 18+ content, so let’s be upfront that we don’t have to be shy about that. I’m not going to put any hard limits in place but if you feel that something might cross a line hit me up and we can discuss. Similarly, if something really crosses a line for you during play please let me know and we can adapt rules as we go. I do encourage everyone to avoid real-world slurs. I like to play with heavy stuff as much as anyone but it’s also important that this remain accessible for those who choose to play.
Hope to get some interest soon so that we can get into it! I’ll start developing my house and characters in the comments. I think it would be fun to start this coming weekend.
Introduction
Our modern world is built on old bones. This has always been true, and these bones have always been strong. Until now.
The elder creatures who laid the seeds of power centuries and millennia ago are beginning to lose their tight grip on the reins of power. The world grows more chaotic. This is no accident. The chaos is by design. It is caused by those who want power trying to pry it from those who have it.
The old houses and clans, the ones who value stability and a return on their investment on entrenched power, are loosely affiliated in an alliance known in whispered corners as The Loop, drawing its name from an ancient European vampire clan’s family crest, bearing a loop of rope with its ends crossed. The Durad family of Montenegro is one of the oldest underground power brokers in Europe, and have taken their crest to heart, ensuring that those they wield their soft power over are bound by the order they have set out. Their influence is slow, and their patience is vast. They place the pieces with care and allow the game to play out accordingly. They protect the relatively small population of vampires from humanity by preserving the shroud – the illusion that they do not exist. They gain wealth and influence, feeding grounds and supplicants. Their structure is that of a noble family, and they wear it on their sleeves, setting the example for the other clans and houses in the Loop – universally old, wealthy ones that have a vested interest in the stability of the systems that sustain them.
This, of course, antagonizes those who are excluded from those hallowed Gothic halls of power.
On the other side of the Atlantic ocean, a more libertarian, anarchic current has stirred. A more recent power broker in the underworld, the Elderidge family, has shaken loose from the control of the Loop. Dissatisfied with the limitations placed on less-powerful clans by the Loop, the Elderidges have systematically turned clan after clan, house after house, against the old guard, promising a less subtle exertion of power. Not satisfied to simply pull the strings, the Elderidges intend to take direct action to control the world they live in. They strike fast, hold fast to the power they acquire. They wrangle their prey and herd them in advantageous directions. They are power brokers the way a paramilitary group becomes a power broker: by simply being too big a threat to ignore. Based in Texas, they twist the icon of the Loop to something less passive: a Lariat. The Lariat are tired of the underground, tired of the shroud, tired of the shadows. Tired of a limit on their wealth and influence. They operate more like an organized crime family, with the inner circle populated almost entirely by the Elderidges. Naturally, there are those who think that they can do things better, and bide their time waiting to wrest power from the Elderidges.
Both sides have operatives everywhere, working in the dark underground to influence politics, gain familiars, make money, undermine their opponents (both in the opposing faction and within their own), and ultimately destroy their enemies.
Genre
Dark Urban Fantasy, Vampire
Setting
Modern, but flashbacks to historical periods are encouraged! I intend to explore how some characters were turned, I hope to play with how certain relationships between individuals and houses came to be. I think it would be fun to explore the current conflict through historical fiction lenses sometimes. Basically don’t feel limited by the modern setting if you want to explore other stuff, but let’s keep the bulk of the storytelling modern.
Players
The goal is to have players create their own house or clan, affiliated with either the Loop or the Lariat. Let’s try to have everyone pick a side, please. This doesn’t mean that affiliation can’t shift or betrayals can’t happen, but let’s avoid fence-sitters at the beginning.
As "GM" I would aim to play a house myself, but also nudge the factions in one direction or another by RPing key members of the Durads and Elderidges, as needed, but honestly I’d love to leave the action as open as possible.
Given that you’re in control of your own house, you’d be in charge of deciding:
• Where, geographically, are you located? I encourage people to learn a bit outside their comfort zone! The fun thing about this is that we can have a globe-trotting game with houses operating via different characters in different places around the world.
• What is your relative power and reach? Are you a small but noble house? Wealthy and powerful? Populous but distributed thinly across the globe? Localized in one place?
• Which characters within that house are you going to write? Who do you need to tell the story of your house during the power struggle between the Loop and the Lariat?
• What is your house’s ultimate goal? Are you a staunch defender of the Durad family? Personally ambitious like the Elderidges? Anarchic and malevolent? Sworn to destroy another house? Motivated by greed? Are you a vampire supremacist, marching at the forefront of the Lariat’s power grab? Or do you want to maintain the shroud and preserve the cover that the Loop has defended for centuries?
Questions for you
I want to leave this as open-ended as possible so that we all share ownership over the story, but every fantasy world needs to have some rules. Can I get your feedback on these in the comments?
• Should we have more dark creatures than just different flavours of vampires?
• I tend to prefer the pseudo-scientific approach of, say, Blade over the floaty fantasy of Interview with a Vampire. But I’m open to magic, I’m just not super familiar with magic systems so I’d appreciate input on this one. What do you think? Magic or no? And if yes, to what end? And what kind of limitations on the magic system make sense?
• Should there be some established “hunters” in the world? Or is the truth of the existence of vampires only just beginning to be known?
About that 18+ tag
Vampire fiction always implies a degree of… well, intimacy and violence. I think the genre is suited for 18+ content, so let’s be upfront that we don’t have to be shy about that. I’m not going to put any hard limits in place but if you feel that something might cross a line hit me up and we can discuss. Similarly, if something really crosses a line for you during play please let me know and we can adapt rules as we go. I do encourage everyone to avoid real-world slurs. I like to play with heavy stuff as much as anyone but it’s also important that this remain accessible for those who choose to play.
Hope to get some interest soon so that we can get into it! I’ll start developing my house and characters in the comments. I think it would be fun to start this coming weekend.