Clanbook: Giovanni (part two)
And once more into the depths.
The Tomb Robber
So, the first Tomb Raider game came out in 1996, and probably had a minor influence on this character. Namely the fact that its female and her equipment includes a pair of automatic pistols. There's also an obligatory Indiana Jones riff in the character quote. Anywho, she had a life long interest in archaeology and ancient cultures, as well as an awareness that real archaeology isn't like the movies. But she managed to become a fairly renowned published expert in her field, especially in thanatology. Eventually, she was offered a massive research grant, on the condition that she first undertake an expedition to Peru and bring back certain artifacts there. This eventually led to the embrace and now she travels the world (or at least the Americas; its a little vague here) hunting down ancient lore and relics that expand both her and the clan's understanding of Necromancy. She's a little atypical, personality wise, for a Giovanni, being pretty straight forward and forthright. Mental is primary, with a 3/4/3 split, and Physicals are secondary with 2/3/3 (taking advantage of being able to augment Strength with Potence). Socials go for a 3/1/2, making her pretty much what you see is what you get. She has the secondary ability of Archaeology at four dots. (The only character in the book with a secondary ability.) Security, Investigation, Linguistics, and Occult are all three dots. Alertness, Stealth and Survival are at two each. Combat skills are all at a single dot. Overall, a pretty competent character, extremely good at her niche but also able to apply those abilities in other areas. Disciplines are two each in Necromancy and Potence, both of which fit the character. Backgrounds are the bare minimum of five dots, with one in Allies, and two each in Contacts and Resources. I really think this is a character that could've justified a dot in Fame, given her background. Humanity is seven and Willpower is five. The art looks like that of your average everyday real world archaeology or eco-tourist. I find myself liking this character quite a bit. It plays very strongly with the clan's Necromancy focus, but in a way that doesn't hew to stereotype. She also feels like she could easily fit in with any mixed clan Coterie that has any sort of academic or Noddist leanings. If pressed to find a complaint, the only thing I can think of is that maybe she's too nice. But I suspect that might change after a century of age.
The Goodfella
Speaking of stereotypes. So, yeah, its basically one of the guys from the movie of the same name. Well, not entirely. He's apparently from a Sicilian branch of the main Giovanni family (it doesn't specify if he's from Sicily or just his mortal family originates from there) that is heavily involved with the Mafia. He loved being in the Mafia as was good at it, eventually becoming a capo and being embraced. He holds to the old school ideas of honor and loyalty, perhaps more to the Mafia than to the Giovanni (perhaps because he doesn't really like being a vampire; this may have something to do with his having a wife and kids while alive, but what happened to them after his embrace isn't mentioned). He's a highly competent killer, but considers himself a professional and not a psychopath. Physicals are primary, with a 4/3/3 split, and Socials at secondary with 2/3/3. Brawl, Intimidation, Streetwise, and Firearms are three dots each, with Dodge and Melee at two. Then there's a scattering of single dots. Disciplines are one dot in Dominate, two in Potence, and then one in Celerity. Backgrounds include two dots in Allies, one in Contacts, four in Generation, and two in Resources. I presume Allies are the Mafia, and I once against find myself wishing that at some point there'd been something that looked in depth at what the different ratings for backgrounds like Allies, Retainers and the like could/should be for things like individuals, gangs, household staff and so on. Humanity is five and Willpower is nine. The artwork very seriously looks like it's Christopher Shy trying to mimic Tim Bradstreet's style, to the point where I could swear I've seen a very similar image on one of Bradstreet's covers for Hellblazer or The Punisher at some point. I have mixed feelings about this character. It's not a bad character by any stretch. But I can't escape the fact that it's based on a clan stereotype, and one that the author had repeatedly pointed out made little sense given the clan's Venetian origins. It feels like it's here to check off an item on a list and that's all. But once you move past that, it's a perfectly solid vampire character, and one who has some interesting loyalty conflicts. (Incidentally, I will note that there is a Venetian organized crime group known as Mala del Brenta, originating in the 1970s or so with local Veneto bandits, racketeers and smugglers organizing themselves in a fashion similar to the Mafia. They were actually supplying guns to Croatia when Yugoslavia fell apart, but were heavily cracked down on near the end of the 90s.)
The Cynical Bastard
And from a pair who almost feel like normal Kindred, we move to this. A product of incest (at least it doesn't dwell on the details) and born incredibly ugly, he was never allowed to leave the house or interact with anyone outside the family. So he had two main hobbies, learning about necromancy and spying on everyone else in the house. And also r**ing all of his younger cousins. Because, sure, why not. At least he was constantly beaten for this. Which I'm not sure is much of an improvement. Eventually his "uncle" - the one that used to administer the beatings - made him a ghoul, and eventually a vampire. Of course, because of his misshapen appearance and lack of social skills, he'd almost totally dependent on his retainers to being him food. Basically, he hates his existence, hates himself, and hates everything else as well. Mental is primary, with Perception maxed out to five dots, Intelligence at three and Wits at two. Strength and Manipulation are both four dots. Dexterity and Stamina are two, while Charisma and Appearance are one. Alertness, Stealth, Bureaucracy, Investigation and Occult are all three dots each, and Brawl and Linguistics are two. The rest are single dot abilities, including Subterfuge, Firearms and Finance. Disciplines are one dot in each Clan affinity power plus an extra dot in Necromancy. Backgrounds are five dots in Allies, two in Generation, four in Resources, and two in Retainers. I'm forced to ask the question, who are his allies? Seriously, this is a character without even the slightest semblance of a friend at any time in his life, and who apparently doesn't even leave the house. This is also when I note that not a single one of these characters has a Mentor, not even ones like this one who've clearly been overseen by a vampire family member for much of their life. Anyway, Humanity is six (higher than the previous Mafia killer) and Willpower is four. The character image is of a heavy set older guy in a suit with his face largely obscured by cigar smoke. Contrast this with his equipment list, which includes "sweatsuit purchased at Good Will." There seems to be a slight disconnect here. But overall, I'm not sure what the point of this character is, aside from an NPC masquerading (npi) as a premade PC. He really does nothing beside sit in his house all night stewing in his own misery and being a jerk. All the other characters go out and do things. This one doesn't even show any indication of that. He used to have an interest in studying Necromancy or in gathering information for his Uncle, but there's no indication he does either of those things anymore. So I'm just kind of at a loss here.
That's it for part two. Next will be part three, with the final two templates and closing thoughts.
And once more into the depths.
The Tomb Robber
So, the first Tomb Raider game came out in 1996, and probably had a minor influence on this character. Namely the fact that its female and her equipment includes a pair of automatic pistols. There's also an obligatory Indiana Jones riff in the character quote. Anywho, she had a life long interest in archaeology and ancient cultures, as well as an awareness that real archaeology isn't like the movies. But she managed to become a fairly renowned published expert in her field, especially in thanatology. Eventually, she was offered a massive research grant, on the condition that she first undertake an expedition to Peru and bring back certain artifacts there. This eventually led to the embrace and now she travels the world (or at least the Americas; its a little vague here) hunting down ancient lore and relics that expand both her and the clan's understanding of Necromancy. She's a little atypical, personality wise, for a Giovanni, being pretty straight forward and forthright. Mental is primary, with a 3/4/3 split, and Physicals are secondary with 2/3/3 (taking advantage of being able to augment Strength with Potence). Socials go for a 3/1/2, making her pretty much what you see is what you get. She has the secondary ability of Archaeology at four dots. (The only character in the book with a secondary ability.) Security, Investigation, Linguistics, and Occult are all three dots. Alertness, Stealth and Survival are at two each. Combat skills are all at a single dot. Overall, a pretty competent character, extremely good at her niche but also able to apply those abilities in other areas. Disciplines are two each in Necromancy and Potence, both of which fit the character. Backgrounds are the bare minimum of five dots, with one in Allies, and two each in Contacts and Resources. I really think this is a character that could've justified a dot in Fame, given her background. Humanity is seven and Willpower is five. The art looks like that of your average everyday real world archaeology or eco-tourist. I find myself liking this character quite a bit. It plays very strongly with the clan's Necromancy focus, but in a way that doesn't hew to stereotype. She also feels like she could easily fit in with any mixed clan Coterie that has any sort of academic or Noddist leanings. If pressed to find a complaint, the only thing I can think of is that maybe she's too nice. But I suspect that might change after a century of age.
The Goodfella
Speaking of stereotypes. So, yeah, its basically one of the guys from the movie of the same name. Well, not entirely. He's apparently from a Sicilian branch of the main Giovanni family (it doesn't specify if he's from Sicily or just his mortal family originates from there) that is heavily involved with the Mafia. He loved being in the Mafia as was good at it, eventually becoming a capo and being embraced. He holds to the old school ideas of honor and loyalty, perhaps more to the Mafia than to the Giovanni (perhaps because he doesn't really like being a vampire; this may have something to do with his having a wife and kids while alive, but what happened to them after his embrace isn't mentioned). He's a highly competent killer, but considers himself a professional and not a psychopath. Physicals are primary, with a 4/3/3 split, and Socials at secondary with 2/3/3. Brawl, Intimidation, Streetwise, and Firearms are three dots each, with Dodge and Melee at two. Then there's a scattering of single dots. Disciplines are one dot in Dominate, two in Potence, and then one in Celerity. Backgrounds include two dots in Allies, one in Contacts, four in Generation, and two in Resources. I presume Allies are the Mafia, and I once against find myself wishing that at some point there'd been something that looked in depth at what the different ratings for backgrounds like Allies, Retainers and the like could/should be for things like individuals, gangs, household staff and so on. Humanity is five and Willpower is nine. The artwork very seriously looks like it's Christopher Shy trying to mimic Tim Bradstreet's style, to the point where I could swear I've seen a very similar image on one of Bradstreet's covers for Hellblazer or The Punisher at some point. I have mixed feelings about this character. It's not a bad character by any stretch. But I can't escape the fact that it's based on a clan stereotype, and one that the author had repeatedly pointed out made little sense given the clan's Venetian origins. It feels like it's here to check off an item on a list and that's all. But once you move past that, it's a perfectly solid vampire character, and one who has some interesting loyalty conflicts. (Incidentally, I will note that there is a Venetian organized crime group known as Mala del Brenta, originating in the 1970s or so with local Veneto bandits, racketeers and smugglers organizing themselves in a fashion similar to the Mafia. They were actually supplying guns to Croatia when Yugoslavia fell apart, but were heavily cracked down on near the end of the 90s.)
The Cynical Bastard
And from a pair who almost feel like normal Kindred, we move to this. A product of incest (at least it doesn't dwell on the details) and born incredibly ugly, he was never allowed to leave the house or interact with anyone outside the family. So he had two main hobbies, learning about necromancy and spying on everyone else in the house. And also r**ing all of his younger cousins. Because, sure, why not. At least he was constantly beaten for this. Which I'm not sure is much of an improvement. Eventually his "uncle" - the one that used to administer the beatings - made him a ghoul, and eventually a vampire. Of course, because of his misshapen appearance and lack of social skills, he'd almost totally dependent on his retainers to being him food. Basically, he hates his existence, hates himself, and hates everything else as well. Mental is primary, with Perception maxed out to five dots, Intelligence at three and Wits at two. Strength and Manipulation are both four dots. Dexterity and Stamina are two, while Charisma and Appearance are one. Alertness, Stealth, Bureaucracy, Investigation and Occult are all three dots each, and Brawl and Linguistics are two. The rest are single dot abilities, including Subterfuge, Firearms and Finance. Disciplines are one dot in each Clan affinity power plus an extra dot in Necromancy. Backgrounds are five dots in Allies, two in Generation, four in Resources, and two in Retainers. I'm forced to ask the question, who are his allies? Seriously, this is a character without even the slightest semblance of a friend at any time in his life, and who apparently doesn't even leave the house. This is also when I note that not a single one of these characters has a Mentor, not even ones like this one who've clearly been overseen by a vampire family member for much of their life. Anyway, Humanity is six (higher than the previous Mafia killer) and Willpower is four. The character image is of a heavy set older guy in a suit with his face largely obscured by cigar smoke. Contrast this with his equipment list, which includes "sweatsuit purchased at Good Will." There seems to be a slight disconnect here. But overall, I'm not sure what the point of this character is, aside from an NPC masquerading (npi) as a premade PC. He really does nothing beside sit in his house all night stewing in his own misery and being a jerk. All the other characters go out and do things. This one doesn't even show any indication of that. He used to have an interest in studying Necromancy or in gathering information for his Uncle, but there's no indication he does either of those things anymore. So I'm just kind of at a loss here.
That's it for part two. Next will be part three, with the final two templates and closing thoughts.
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