Necroes

Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Interest Check - Still Recruiting! Ignore post count.

@Cu Chulainn Sorry, friend. The Toreador aren't in the habit of manufacturing hounds. If they need soldiers, they can create a ghoul. Much more useful, because they can still walk around in the day time. If they need assassins, they hire a Nosferatu. Their own ranks are reserved for those who make themselves useful in the social scene.

Also; I don't buy the 'blade work as art' angle. Violence, especially against humans, is very clearly designated in this system as something that tears down and erodes your humanity. The Toreador love of art connects them more strongly to their humanity. To me, that reads the two as being mutually opposed, within the rules.
Having studied combat tactics and traditional martial arts, I can also attest that serious fighters do not think of themselves as 'artists.' Performers, maybe, but to think of the violence inherent to being a trained killer as 'beautiful' is the sign of a deranged mind, not an artistic one. Good instructors are trained to look for that kind of thing, when they're training new soldiers. It's an easy way to identify a sociopath.

No; You'd be much more likely to find a soldier or a fencer who considers what they do 'performance art' among the ranks of the Brujah. The notion that a Brujah can be calm and precise when needed is a much easier sell, to me, then trying to justify violence as art. I would have made a connection to a Toreador who sired this kind of kindred with an anarch, but you pointed it out yourself; that train of thought would be more in keeping with the sabat.

Yea, no, sorry; It would be far easier to see a Brujah siring this character then a Toreador.

[5E] Peasants of Mass Destruction

Excellent. The peasants swarm around the cart area.

@Necroes Einkil gets to react first to the peasants. What does he do?

@Mae

Based on those rolls, I'm gonna say he lies his ass off to a bunch of easily persuaded, moderately drunk carnival goers, then proceeds to make himself an obvious scapegoat by tripping over his own two drunk feet.

[5E] Peasants of Mass Destruction

Looking around at the crowd, Einkil got the distinct impression things were about to turn ugly. That said, everyone was focused on the wands, and someone had already approached on behalf of the sheriff. It was a long shot, but he would rather take the risk and have the attempt fail than see himself and his friends in the line of fire.

"Look out!" He yelled into the crowd, his deep, dwarven voice carrying with ease, as he put on his best city accent. "Sheriff's comin', an he's got the brute squad wit' 'im! Everyone, cheese et!" As he hollers out, he turns to grab the wizard, doing his best to throw them both behind the crate in the hopes his lie causes panic.

(Deception check to lie to crowd:19)
(Athletics check to jump the crate:4)

Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Interest Check - Still Recruiting! Ignore post count.

@Cu Chulainn Embracing an established murderer is an exceptionally bad idea. While it seems like vampires wouldn't care about that sort of thing, death is very loud. Going around killing humans is a good way to draw attention to yourself, and using your powers to do it will draw attention to kindred society. Things like that risk a breach of the masquerade, which would likely end up with your character being the target of a blood hunt.

Keeping that in mind; Toreador, as a clan, are more ordered and tend to follow the rules. They're very obsessed with art and beauty, and they also tend to attach themselves more strongly to their humanity. It's going to be something of a hard sell to find a Toreador to sire your character, knowing they're not especially artistic, they already have a disconnect to their humanity, and they make a habit of murder. Unless your Toreador was sired by an anarch, who sired them without permission from the local Prince, it's unlikely the character as you have described them would have been embraced to begin with.

Now, if you were aiming for someone more traditionally artistic and less bloodthirsty to begin with, who after their embrace begins to turn into a killer, then that's far more reasonable. The other option for that character that would make sense would be if, instead of Toreador, your clan were Brujah.

Your second idea seems much more reasonable from the outset, but I'm not entirely sure what you mean by 'director.'

Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Interest Check - Still Recruiting! Ignore post count.

@pugbutter I've got an idea for letting people play characters from an older time, even if they are fledglings. It's something we'd have to discuss, but as long as you don't go back before the 1900's, I can work with it.

Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Interest Check - Still Recruiting! Ignore post count.

@pugbutter Come on, now, friend. This is a VtM game we're talking about! If I didn't make my players regret the things they say, am I really living up to the role of story teller? Punishing players for their actions is, quite literally, my job in this game.

But, seriously, you're all starting as basic fledglings. I wasn't being mean about it, that really does make the plot a lot simpler on my end. Moreover, this isn't the kind of game where a 'lower level' character is inherently less fun. Bringing you all down to the lowest level gives me a good buffer for trying out this system in a forum context (which is a very new thing for me) while also limiting the amount of explanation I need to do if our third and/or fourth players are more new to the system.

Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Interest Check - Still Recruiting! Ignore post count.

@Cu Chulainn Oh no. Didn't you see the edit in the opener? @pugbutter helped convince me that you should all start as basic fledglings, no bonus exp.

Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Interest Check - Still Recruiting! Ignore post count.

@pugbutter@Cu Chulainn

Keep in mind you two; You're starting out as fledglings this time around. You'll have been kindred for a couple years, max; Likely still connected to your human side, and without a great deal of power. From the sounds of it, you two are aiming for 'what my character will become' as opposed to 'what my character starts as.'

Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Interest Check - Still Recruiting! Ignore post count.

@pugbutter When it comes to tremere, I'm perfectly okay with you becoming overpowered. That said, you have to survive long enough to get there, while remembering you're in a city filled with vampires infinitely more capable of ending you instantly than your magic could ever protect you against.

When it comes to dice rolls, it's going to be a very in-the-moment kind of decision. Using your example, if you're actively trying to distract someone to slide something into their pocket (yea, I know why you're asking) then that would be dexterity + subterfuge. If they're already distracted, and you just need to take advantage of that without causing a scene, then you're looking at composure + larceny. Something more revolved around taking advantage of timing to, say, drop it into a bag while no one is looking could be wits + dexterity.

Essentially; Make your character flavorful, and don't go fishing for min-maxed skill combinations. If you do, that's fine, but don't expect to just be able to rely on those to constantly get you what you want. It's my job as story teller to insure the rolls I'm calling for are the ones that best fit the circumstance, and the game provides me with a large canvas to make that happen. Personally, I'm a big fan of odd attribute-skill combinations for rolls.

Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Interest Check - Still Recruiting! Ignore post count.

@pugbutter Getting a bit excited, but I'm not going to tell you to not start brewing a character. That said, I'm going to have to say 'no' to that one. Tremere are notoriously busted, and while I'll allow you to play one, I'm not going to do you any favors in making the process easier. Especially as the closet equivalent to what you're asking me would be for me to let another player give up two advantages for a level 1 discipline power, which would also be a 'no,' even with the trade deficit.