[2E] Task Force: VALKYRIE as Cryptocracy project?

[wyrdhamster]

In 1E HtV, Task Force: VALKYRIE was, in reality, vampires funded USA project. This have problems with credibility of this idea as vamps in Requiem are much more localized and a) Do not have those kind of means at their disposal, b) They do not have enemies outside of their 'home city', more or less. So this idea behind TFV was much flawed.

Now, with all the talks about Kickstarter preview of HtV 2E, we found very good idea, in my POV, to making Task Force: VALKYRIE as Cryptocracy Faction council project. It has ssssoooo much sense in CoD universe. Remembering for those that do not know, Cryptocracy is Contagion reaction crossover group that supports stability of humanity and ruling over it, implying that chaos leads to next strains of Contagion - various supernatural plagues that who torment monsters and humanity in different parts of the universe. Cryptocracy are all monsters that wants to have stability, order and to rule of humanity. It's much more fractured from Camarilla of Requiem of old, but it's the closest we have to it. Invictus are natural members, just like Seers, Guardians or even Silver Ladder, from Mage - or Winter or Autumn changelings, for example. ( And many, many more 'socially active' monsters. ) As it's cross faction alliance fighting unnatural sickness of the world, it has more the reasons, pull and motives to create TFV compared to Invictus alone.

With TFV folding in it's self the Barret Comission and Division 6 in 2E HtV, it has even more reason to do so. Especially as Division 6 is Seers produced group that is canonically now part of TFV, so crossovers of various government sanction monsters is already in line. I really think that whole HtV gameline will blossom from this idea alone.

And I really want to thank author of this fan idea - glamourweaver - for it!

[glamourweaver]

To be more specific, my pitch is not that VALKYRIE is answering to the Cryptocracy, but rather that the Steering Committee has made truce’s to support those factions that keep their own communities in line, and thus would be part of such a broader entity by default. That’s VALKYRIE’s deep dark secret - the monsters aren’t in control - but humans have made the choice that Invictus and the Seers of the Throne, and Maa Kep Cults, etc are acceptable and should be allowed to do what they do as a lesser evil than the unchecked alternative.

In my version they are NOT combined with the Barrett Commission. Quite the contrary, the Barrett Commission’s agenda of cleansing the halls of power of supernatural manipulators potentially sets them at odds with VALKYRIE’s alliances and desire to protect the balance of power that upholds order and the status-quo.

[ArcaneArts]

To be more specific, my pitch is not that VALKYRIE is answering to the Cryptocracy, but rather that the Steering Committee has made truce’s to support those factions that keep their own communities in line, and thus would be part of such a broader entity by default. That’s VALKYRIE’s deep dark secret - the monsters aren’t in control - but humans have made the choice that Invictus and the Seers of the Throne, and Maa Kep Cults, etc are acceptable and should be allowed to do what they do as a lesser evil than the unchecked alternative.

In my version they are NOT combined with the Barrett Commission. Quite the contrary, the Barrett Commission’s agenda of cleansing the halls of power of supernatural manipulators potentially sets them at odds with VALKYRIE’s alliances and desire to protect the balance of power that upholds order and the status-quo.

The Barrett Commission are a collective of individuals who realize their position of power and authority are subject and vulnerable to the predations of supernaturally empowered individuals and organizations seeking to influence their own will and agreed that there was at least that common basis. So, in other words, correct.

As for the broader Vampires vs Cryptocracy argument:

Look, I'll be blunt, I only have one stake, and it is entirely a personal one:

I feel as though it is cowardice and a broader(and unnecessary) division of humanity and monstrosity that would motivate towards the latter. I personally feel the intimate ties that exist between vampires and others that is missing among others splats is actually a really good grounds for the consolidation of focus that the game presented ahead of time, that if anyone is interested in the Masquerade above all else in a....unilateral but not collective sense, it is vampires and humans aligning on the fact that everyone benefits from certain things being buried-above even demons on the matter. Also I don't like it, but that's my own shit to recompense

If you want a compromise, no one's saying the Cryptocracy can't be behind the vampires themselves, because it HAS sense there-but I, as one of a few, actually really like that Vampires are the Funders of Valkyire. It's a distinct enough dynamic, and complicated enough, that it bears a lot of interest to me.

But if you want me to draw a line-No, Fuck the Cryptocracy, Vampires All the Way. It's Harder and More Complex and All the more Rewarding For It.

[glamourweaver]

My original point was to emphasize that NO ONE is “behind” VALKYRIE other than the humans of the military/intelligence industrial complex. But that those humans make real politik compromises all the time, and those bonds align among the “Cryptocracracy” axis.

As for vampires secretly funding VALKYRIE... WHY?! Do you know how much money the US government is capable of spending on black ops? Do you know how much money “disappeared” in Iraq? Why would military contractors for the first and only time in history have difficulty achieving funds from the US government to supply such an operation and need to turn to outside sources?!

[The Kings Raven]

My original point was to emphasize that NO ONE is “behind” VALKYRIE other than the humans of the military/intelligence industrial complex. But that those humans make real politik compromises all the time, and those bonds align among the “Cryptocracracy” axis.

That's my preference too. I saw a big CIA/Bin Laden metaphor in there with TFV being the CIA and the Invictus as Bin Laden (I keep it to just one monster group for that personal relationship), and it's likely to blow up in America's face at some point. That struck me as much more interesting a dark secret than vampires being secretly in charge, and more in keeping with Hunter's core themes. It's a game about strength in numbers and fighting monsters. If you're controlled by vampires you're going to have to break one theme or the other.

As for Cryptocracracy, it makes sense to me, in the context of the Contagion chronicle of course.

[Michael]

Pretty good idea. I mean, if you're using a full roster of supernatural beings for your setting, it does give an easy answer to what keeps Valkyrie from being entirely suborned.

[Steamfunk]

As for vampires secretly funding VALKYRIE... WHY?! Do you know how much money the US government is capable of spending on black ops? Do you know how much money “disappeared” in Iraq? Why would military contractors for the first and only time in history have difficulty achieving funds from the US government to supply such an operation and need to turn to outside sources?!

It doesn't say good things that vampires, werewolves, and wizards all fit withing suspension of disbelief but an extralegal US military group operating without the consent of the governed having trouble getting funding just seems way too fantastical to take seriously. I agree, though.

If there has to be something behind TFV, it probably shouldn't be vampires. Theres just not really good aesthetic cohesion. Just going off of MO and aesthetics, TFV is an organization embedded in the gears of a complex bureaucracy, gathering information, acting on orders from sources so distant they could be anyone, and doing it all with plausible-ish futuretech. If they're anything, they're infrastructure.

[nofather]

As for vampires secretly funding VALKYRIE... WHY?! Do you know how much money the US government is capable of spending on black ops? Do you know how much money “disappeared” in Iraq? Why would military contractors for the first and only time in history have difficulty achieving funds from the US government to supply such an operation and need to turn to outside sources?!

Because there's no profits to be had in killing a monster, and the weapons they design can't be sold elsewhere. The money we put into the military is mostly meant to make more money down the road, to either curry favor or just sell stuff. For instance fairly recently we sent some Chinook helicopters over to Afghanistan to show people how well they work, to encourage the government (or others) to buy them. If left in America they would have just been used to help fight the wildfires in Oregon (which is what they were doing here, though they were sent before the wildfires broke out) but there's more money to be made using them for advertising.

[proindrakenzol]

I don't like the idea of something like TFV being nothing more than a puppet for some supernatural group; humans have agency, and a bunch of Vampires are just not going to be able to fund something like TFV without it being obvious.

Instead, I run it as various supernatural groups have infiltrated TFV and other Hunter organizations. The Libertine Mage in R&D can exert some influence by providing her "expert opinion" to the brass, but if she tries to go beyond that then the ghoul in accounting will start to push back, and the bureaucratic inertia kicks in.

Supernaturals have interest in these Hunter organizations, and will have varying opinions on them from outright support to loathing; and many Hunters are going to be put in the way of things that could cause them to become the Monster: you're more likely to get turned by a Vampire if you're constantly interacting with Vampires, break through to Supernal Truths if you keep confronting the Lie, &c., which means that you'll naturally have a certain number of supernaturals in Hunter organizations that were there before they became supernaturals.

[Steamfunk]

Because there's no profits to be had in killing a monster, and the weapons they design can't be sold elsewhere. The money we put into the military is mostly meant to make more money down the road, to either curry favor or just sell stuff. For instance fairly recently we sent some Chinook helicopters over to Afghanistan to show people how well they work, to encourage the government (or others) to buy them. If left in America they would have just been used to help fight the wildfires in Oregon (which is what they were doing here, though they were sent before the wildfires broke out) but there's more money to be made using them for advertising.

The real horror for TFV is that the actual reason for their operation is to justify some member of the JC kicking 8 billion to his cousin's consulting company, Nidhogg Security and Systems.