[WIR] Let the Streets Run Red (COMPLETE!)

[Justycar]

I myself am spanish and never, never have listened that name, it seems a joke about "alucard" or something like that.


EDIT: I would not be the first time with americans making fun of "stupid spanish names". To an spanish, Aluc Romas de León sounds like Buch Mickeyson of Whitechaper and Bloomsbury

[The Gentleman Gamer]

I myself am spanish and never, never have listened that name, it seems a joke about "alucard" or something like that.


EDIT: I would not be the first time with americans making fun of "stupid spanish names". To an spanish, Aluc Romas de León sounds like Buch Mickeyson of Whitechaper and Bloomsbury

It's not a joke, no. Think of it this way: His name is Aluc Romas, and he affixed "de León" to the end to make it sound more Spanish to American ears (and name a place of origin for those who care, whether or not it's true). He wouldn't be the first vampire to amend his name. Marcus Vitel, Mithras, Andreas Aegyptus, Sascha Vykos, etc.

[Justycar]

It's not a joke, no. Think of it this way: His name is Aluc Romas, and he affixed "de León" to the end to make it sound more Spanish to American ears (and name a place of origin for those who care, whether or not it's true). He wouldn't be the first vampire to amend his name. Marcus Vitel, Mithras, Andreas Aegyptus, Sascha Vykos, etc.

I believe you, I did not though that was bad intention with it, just lack of interest of researching a properly spanish name. But I do not know, may it be from south-america, but in Europe is not name used at all. But sure, of course a Vampire can change his or her name to be more palatable for americans, it is very common in Hollywood, in fact. Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez as Martin Sheen, for example.

EDIT: I have researched Aluc, and not only it is not a name in spanish, but neither in basque, galego, catalán or other languages of the peninsula. And it is not listed as a birth name in the INE (National institute of stadistics). So, indeed, it seems a nickname for your friend´s colleague.

[CTPhipps]

In the precise moment I read the Chicago Folios, I knew that Arthur Caldwell was a fanmade character. I, personally, did not like it, one more malkavian clown. It seems that Malkavian could only be psychopaths, clowns or psycho-clowns. Also, the sense of humour on each chronicle and group of player differs, so a character trying to be funny sometimes just seems artificial. However, it is only my personal opinion.

Eh, sorry you don't like him. Thankfully, you don't have to use him.

[The Gentleman Gamer]

I believe you, I did not though that was bad intention with it, just lack of interest of researching a properly spanish name. But I do not know, may it be from south-america, but in Europe is not name used at all. But sure, of course a Vampire can change his or her name to be more palatable for americans, it is very common in Hollywood, in fact. Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez as Martin Sheen, for example.

EDIT: I have researched Aluc, and not only it is not a name in spanish, but neither in basque, galego, catalán or other languages of the peninsula. And it is not listed as a birth name in the INE (National institute of stadistics). So, indeed, it seems a nickname for your friend´s colleague.

Quite possible! But still a perfectly valid name for a character.

[CTPhipps]

Yes, I understand it, but to me it works as canned laughs. In my personal opinion, with Aluc Romas de León, the worst characters of Chicago by night new books. The problem with Aluc is not only that that name does not exist in spanish, but also he is a blind art dealer. Ironically, that makes him more funny than Arthur Caldwell.

I quite like Aluc it should be noted. He's a character who dramatically broadens the concept of the Ministry beyond just "I worship Set and an evil cultist." Rarely do we have a character that simply DOES NOT CARE about religion and that makes him the stronger for it. He's just a Ministry member who wants to be Prince and wealth.

It's a nice change of pace. It's why I love Thea Noel MacCrane because she colors outside the lines. Just by being, again, a Ministry vampire that is a selfish psychopathic party girl.

It's why I liked Dolph Sheng in "The Sacrifice" web video (and not sucking up to you, MD).

And yes, Aluc's name is probably nonsense. I don't even think that's out of character for Chicago by Night as the rich (growing up among the country club set as I did) can be deeply stupid.

[Justycar]

I agree with you, the nonsense of the name and the fact that he is a blind art dealer could be original for the Ministry concept, but a bit stupid. Anyway it is only my opinion, I am sure other storytellers would enjoy Arthur and Aluc, but not me. In the other hand, I consider the quality of the new books very high and Chicago by night an excellent book, this was the only character which I did not like at all, probably, being spanish I only hoped some spanish characters being depicted with a real name.

[Nicolas Milioni]

I also would like to praise KMJ for the art on Arthur and Maxwell. The simmering anger coming from the former,and smooth confidence from the latter

[CTPhipps]

The Sliding Scale of Character Seriousness: Arthur Caldwell

There's no point in defending one's work as a writer. Something I learned when I got my first one star reviews among the 5s and 4s. People like what they like or they don't. However, this actually reminds me of the concept was based on the idea of not actually being "that" funny.

I am a comedy writer for making my living so maybe I couldn't get it out of my DNA but I actually wrote the character with the idea of, "A character seemingly affable but carrying the potential to be quite horrifying."

Some thoughts on the subject:

1. The first thing I was hoping to make with Arthur was the idea of someone who was Embraced on a level that put them in a bad survival situation. Gary is a violent city for Kindred with the war between Modius and Juggler at its full swing. Having a character that was forced to adapt to being a soldier in a war that he has absolutely nothing to do with but is ideologically drawn to was an interesting take.

2. Arthur is, at heart, a dangerous killer who is brimming with resentments that will spill over in rather horrifying ways. There's nothing particularly nice about the Humanity 6 vampire and its implied he's already murdered his sire as well as who knows how many other people to pay them back. In a more serious game, I can just see the Malkavian's eyes darken behind his smile, and a bomb getting thrown through someone's window for some minor offense. I'm not saying the character is a budding spree killer but as a Malkavian played for horror, I think of the Penguin scene from a comic where a man laughs at him (maybe even didn't) and he then drives him to suicide. Right now only Evelyn, his Touchstone, and Allicia are probably keeping him from getting worse.

3. I actually think there's room to explore the character's relationships for tragedy. Is he blood bound to Allicia? Is he just her disposable tool/bodyguard? Is he planning on murdering her other lovers. Is he actually in love with her and it will overcome [possible if unlikely]? I think the book left it somewhat ambiguous and that's for the better depending on how you enjoy relationships among the undead.

4. Arthur is a Malkavian and you could describe his "Vengeance" plans as "pranks" like the old 1st Edition Players' Guides Tricksters but I think that misses the motivation is fury at being enslaved by his sire, abused by the Anarchs, and friends killed by the Camarilla. Yes, you could play him for pop culture references and sarcasm but you could also play him deadly serious and quiet. After all, his is not the night of Succubus Club but hunting down people who pissed him off. The nerd hides a budding monster. More Requiem than Masquerade.

Yes, he's a guy who plays White Wolf games but I don't see any reason that necessarily has to define him as a "wacky" Malkavian even if I think the write-up may have overstated his nerdiness. Certainly, if you go to rescue someone from a beating and get killed it's not because you've watched too much MCU [as it implies there in his backstory] but it's because you wanted to do something good.

You just failed.

[Grumpy RPG Reviews]

It's always a risk when you add fan-made or setting-referential characters...

My Monty Python reference was just a joke - I'm fine with the character. Not all vampires needs to be schemers in the Prince's court, or blood warriors or anything grand. Sometimes they can, and should be, just people - more or less. I've noticed that in many, maybe most, VtM game the PCs hardly ever interact with humans (except to murder and feed) and so they hardly ever interact with just people. Caldwell is a reasonably (evil, hateful, but not a warrior for evil or trying to be prince) normal person, who is also a vampire. It's some nice grounding.

[The Gentleman Gamer]

My Monty Python reference was just a joke - I'm fine with the character. Not all vampires needs to be schemers in the Prince's court, or blood warriors or anything grand. Sometimes they can, and should be, just people - more or less. I've noticed that in many, maybe most, VtM game the PCs hardly ever interact with humans (except to murder and feed) and so they hardly ever interact with just people. Caldwell is a reasonably (evil, hateful, but not a warrior for evil or trying to be prince) normal person, who is also a vampire. It's some nice grounding.

Oh absolutely. And for them to be relatable, we need characters in the WoD to come from backgrounds we understand.

[CTPhipps]

I think Gary was always good territory for vampires; it just wasn't a good territory for the NPCs of Forged By Steel. And the simple reason for that is Gary is 80-90% black, and almost all the canonical vampires there are white. Black vampires feeding in Gary would not attract attention. White vampires feeding on the most likely victims of Gary - its black population - would attract attention. There's certainly ways around it. And historically, white vampires in Gary would not be a bad thing. Gary was historically majority white until the late 1960s, and Modius, Allicia, and the others would have fit in.

But by 1990, there needed to be some slight of hand to explain how these vampires could feed in a city without attracting attention. I think there was some (perhaps?) inadvertent explanations with things like the auction and other unsavory bits that would allow the canon NPCs to feed without attracting undue attention. I grew up in the Chicago area, and knew Gary's demographics quite well as did all of my gaming group. So we always slight of handed things so it made sense. But I don't think people outside the area, whose only knowledge of Gary came from the corebook, would suspect of some of these issues. I can see the incompetent/traumatized Modius remaining in Gary, delusional in his decaying steel baron mansion. Even Michael considering his strange delusion and living in the graveyards. But most of the other NPCs should have moved onto Chicago proper or left by 2020.

According to official stats:

The 5 largest ethnic groups in Gary, IN are Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) (79.3%), White (Non-Hispanic) (11.4%), Other (Hispanic) (2.87%), White (Hispanic) (2.66%), and Two+ (Non-Hispanic) (1.45%). NaNk% of the people in Gary, IN speak a non-English language, and 99.2% are U.S. citizens.

So definitely, Allicia and Modius are people you would notice walking down the street, though not necessarily so much that they stand out like James Bond in Harlem.

One thing to improve the setting the most would be to introduce more vampire NPCs that are black and native to Gary or South Chicago, perhaps even those who are childer of the original Gary NPCs. I could easily see Modius embracing some chanteuse in Gary's nightclubs or music scene, or Lucian finding someone they find worthy of the embrace and who could look out for any interests he had in the city. At least Evelyn fits in.

I have inordinate fondness for Danov for some reason, so he remains my favorite Gary NPC. But his reason for being in Chicago is related to his quest for Golconda, so it makes complete sense he'd have left by now. The first edition character of Johann Weltmann is long dead, and Khalid was an obvious dead end. Even the hook of Capone seeking Golconda (!) is over. There's no reason for him to stay. Still, it'd be good to see him elsewhere continuing his quest.

This is where I'm going to once more take the time to praise Rusted Veins.

I noticed the fact that Evelyn and Gregory Stephens were the only black NPCs of Gary, Indiana as early as 1994 (and Evelyn was pale in the black and white artwork). Which always felt like a mistake. Dust to Dust handled this by having all of the vampires in Gary leaving the city by 2004. However, I was pleased to say that Rusted Veins added a bunch of pregenerated characters that were primarily vampires of color.

It's one reason that I wish we could have had some of the NPCs in Rusted Jungle filled out some more and hope we might in future supplements or PDFs (however unlikely). I'd like to know their backstory like Bricks and company.

Also, kudos that Eric vs. Evelyn is two black Americans fighting over Gary's rulership with the guy behind it all (Maxwell) also one. No matter who wins, Gary, it is going to be a person of color.

I also would like to praise KMJ for the art on Arthur and Maxwell. The simmering anger coming from the former,and smooth confidence from the latter

Oh definitely. Perhaps it's not the most politic thing to say but I love the OPP art a lot more than the photoshopped art of the main books. The handpainted stuff is just gorgeous.

My Monty Python reference was just a joke - I'm fine with the character. Not all vampires needs to be schemers in the Prince's court, or blood warriors or anything grand. Sometimes they can, and should be, just people - more or less. I've noticed that in many, maybe most, VtM game the PCs hardly ever interact with humans (except to murder and feed) and so they hardly ever interact with just people. Caldwell is a reasonably (evil, hateful, but not a warrior for evil or trying to be prince) normal person, who is also a vampire. It's some nice grounding.

This is definitely something I have liked about 5th Edition more than previous, even though I am a lifelong fan of all editions. There seems to be more focus on making higher generation characters that come from "normal" backgrounds versus people who were raised by Revenant Families or part of secret assassin orders.

People like Honor Mercer, Tyrone Soros (another character I feel like can be done humorously or seriously), and Robert Warrington benefit the Chronicles for not being overthetop.

Or overthetop in a believable self-help guru way.

Oh absolutely. And for them to be relatable, we need characters in the WoD to come from backgrounds we understand.

I admit, a part of me is now thinking of the Black Dog Twitch Channel hosted by Gabrielle (substituting for Outstar). I wonder how many canon NPCs would be regular posters.

But I like humor like that.

[CTPhipps]

The Sliding Scale post I did above actually is a pretty good lead in for Modius when I get to him next because one of the most interesting twists of this book is the fact that it really does try to do a lot to make him less of the pathetic whiny man-baby that he was in previous editions (and it does the same for Juggler to a lesser extent) but I'm not sure if that is actually better for the character or not.

Is Modius better as an insane twisted Mr. Havisham living in his crumbling mansion or is he better as a guy who just got in way over his head?

Both of them can have places in books and both are equally valid depending on the themes or concepts of the Chronicle in question.

[CTPhipps]

Modius



Synopsis: The very first vampire NPC (not counting Malcolm). The Pauper Prince of Gary.

Analysis: Unfortunately, Grumpy RPG Reviews has managed to introduce Monty Python to a tabletop role-playing game and that means that there's going to be no end of references until someone kills the Storyteller or we run out of pizza as well as Mountain Dew. In this case, it is relevant to Jean Luc Modius because we find out that instead of a refined snooty aristocrat who is trapped in the 17th century that Modius....IS A LUMBERJACK.



Technically, Modius is actually a fur trapper turned wilderness guide turned pioneer farmer but the sentiment still stands that he actually used to work for a living. In what is surprisingly appropriate lead in from the previous two conversations, Modius is kind of a perfect example of a character that can be played for comedy or horror. It's a quality that I really liked about Tyrone "Coach" Soros and gets addressed here at length. You can play Modius for comedy, tragedy, or drama and while I think this version of him ups the drama element--it doesn't eliminate the former two completely either.

Modius has always been, from 1st Edition onward, a joke. However, WHAT KIND OF JOKE HE IS is the real question as each sort of Storyteller is going to have a different answer. The more serious version is the fact that Modius being a deranged 220 year old vampire sitting in his crumbling mansion, surrounded by rats, is actually quite terrifying if you think about it. Because a 200 year old Elder is still a 200 year old Elder and I've played that for terror several times. One chronicle had the protagonist enslaved by Dominate for the better part of several years, forced to be his "Seneschal."

I'm a big fan of using Dominate and Presence for horror as are my players.

Less serious versions of Modius will play him up as a powdered wig wearing whiny coward, like if someone combined the cartoon GI Joe's Cobra Commander with Mozart. I've had plenty of STs go with this version as well. Sometimes, I combined them myself with the dissonance being extra fun like being forced to ride with Modius as he tries to figure out Twitter or talks about Embracing Taylor Swift (yes, I actually did that). Not to be political but the idea of combining someone terrifyingly powerful but an egotistical moron isn't exactly impossible to imagine these days.

Modius' stats are also something that plays into this duality. He's got things like "Fawning Praise 3" and "Etiquette 5" while simultaneously having a Humanity of 3. He's a psychopathic monster kept in check by his desire to know the right kind of China to serve expensive cheese on. I think he should have at least Survival 2-3. It's entirely possible that he's forgotten all of his skills back from then but I think it's more likely an oversight from his revised backstory. I also would give Modius back his Dominate 4 from 1st Edition even though he now has Presence 5 and even if you think he's a LUNATIC FOOL, you will never say that to his face because he will not LET you. I might also up his Strength to 4 and his melee to 4 too (Ax).

You could easily do RUSTED JUNGLE with Modius being revealed as the bad guy behind everything instead of Maxwell because the new version ISN'T a moron. He's insane and addicted to the mother of all sunk cost fallacies but they do a decent job of establishing that he was once someone worth following and could be again. Indeed, if the write-up had included that Helena used Dominate or Maureen O'Leary used Dementation on him to leave him a shell of his former self for decades then I wouldn't have disbelieved you. Maybe Modius being in torpor for a few years broke a Blood Bond he had to Lodin or otherwise cleared his head. It's really up to you how you choose to play Modius.

I actually buy this version of Modius as someone that Annabelle was drawn to and fell in love with for a time. Lumberjack Modius certainly is someone that would have been different from the society types that she normally associated with. I could also see how she holds an affection for it even if he went into a century-long Lestat-esque funk. That is actually the most Anne Rice sort of thing that I've seen in a long time.



I'm genuinely surprised to find out that Modius was actually his real name, though. One thing first edition did that I'm sorry fell away is the fact that most vampries operate on an alias. Mask and Mein has brought that back but you had people like "Sir", "Doctor", "Gengis" being implied to be aliases because you didn't want to go by your real name as a vampire. I always figured that Modius was him making a clever play on words.

Roleplaying Suggestions

* If Modius somehow does get out of Maxwell's hair, I would have him leave Gary at last. Possibly making a deal with the Vanguard's remnants, Second Inquisition, or whoever to bolster himself. Setting his sights on Milwaukee when Decker falls or Indianapolis as a Camarilla alternative (where he'd be a Ministry puppet).

* I really would love a confrontation between Olaf One-Eye and Modius. Just because I'm imagining a scene like the ending of the Hunger Games books where President Snow literally laughs himself to death upon seeing the fate of his rival.

* Donald Sutherland and John Cusack would both make good Modius actors, I think.

https://34th-hunger-games-fanon.fand...Sutherland.jpg

https://compote.slate.com/images/2fe...1b40622667.jpg

* A particularly horrifying revelation might be that Allicia is one of Modius' mortal descendants and he rescued her from the depraved degeneracy of the Pentex family she'd become part of.

* Lumberjack Modius makes me believe that Modius should carry around a hand ax in his coat and tails or hide a woodsman's ax around his mansion in various places for fighting. Just the sort of crazy thing to add to people.

The simple question:

WHY SO SERIOUS?

[CTPhipps]

I should note that RUSTED VEINS actually had what probably should have been the canonical ending for Modius and Sullivan Dane.

Dane trades himself for an innocent taken by the Circulatory System, Modius bites down on his neck, and Modius dies from Dane's holy blood. Dane dying from bleeding out from the vampire who drained him dying.

It would have been a good ending for both.

Whoever wrote that should be proud of themselves.