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[CaptOtter]

I believe that there are certain supplements with backgrounds and other things that can reduce the difficulty of rituals, which could bring high difficulties back into the sub-10 range. I think there's one background called "Thaumaturgical Laboratory" or something along those lines that reduce difficulties (though it may add dice instead?) I'm sure the real Thaumaturgy wonks will have all the synergies worked out to make possible the otherwise impossible.

[CaptOtter]

My group made a house rule that it just had to be a net +5 dots, so you could have a form that gave you +3, -1, +3 (for instance)....

[CaptOtter]

That's not exactly accurate—Clanbook Gangrel (Rev.), explicitly gives the wolf form stat modifiers comparable to a Garou's lupus form. Combined with the regular diff break to perception rolls, the doubled running speed, and the Str+1 aggravated bite attack, you get a perfectly viable combat power....

[CaptOtter]

I feel like the moment a Caitiff reaches 3rd gen, they're entitled to start embracing people and declare themselves a new clan founder: "Lo, and tremble, all of you, at the nascent might of the Followers of Steve!"

[CaptOtter]

This all day. You could have separate books for Rome, Carthage, the Gaulish and Germanic tribes. A decades- or centuries-long chronicle book for running players through the Punic Wars would be absolutely epic. I've thought this would be a mind-blowing historical setting ever since I saw HBO's Rome, and I felt a resurgence of this feelings after listening to Dan Carlin's Punic Nightmares and Death Throes of the Republic....

[CaptOtter]

Kindred The Embraced. At one time, I might have said that it wasn't a good representation of the WoD, because it was too different from the actual WoD (and V:tM) as written, in addition to having been so melodramatic and self-serious despite being very campy, that it came off like a farce. I actually told a friend once that it was V:tM only by virtue of having been (a) about vampires, and (b) having licensed the use of certain proper nouns.

Having said that, and given recent developments in the direction taken by the actual tabletop game (i.e., what constitutes being "authentic"...

[CaptOtter]

I disagree strongly with this sentence; moreso with the second part than the first. I don't know that Auspex "struggles" against Obfuscate, inasmuch as they seem perfectly balanced. If your Auspex is higher than someone's Obfuscate, you see through it automatically; if their Obfuscate is higher, you're fooled automatically. If they're even, you roll off, and only in the event of a tie does the defender (i.e., the obfuscate user) take the square. That's pretty even; the only way it could be more even would be if, instead of ties going to the defender, the players just had to keep rolling...

[CaptOtter]

Yeah, the Monster Manual is definitely clutch--err... I mean Book of the Wyrm!

[CaptOtter]

From a point-value perspective, it could potentially count as one of (if not THE) most devastating clan flaw. In other words, if you were to reduce this to a point value so that other characters could take it at character creation, how much do you think this would be? There is no flaw "One Less Clan Discipline", but the Merit "Additional Clan Discipline" is 5 points; accordingly, I think this would make this probably a 10+ point flaw. There's also the additional question of whether it would be intellectually honest to allow them to even start the game with the 3 basic dots...

[CaptOtter]

That's the balancing factor, I think. Potentially the most powerful discipline, hands-down, but subject to pretty strict and regimented control from what amounts to a stifling corporate bureaucracy. Most vampires have to kowtow to the muckety mucks in their city, and their sect, Tremere get a whole additional layer of ass kissing and "mother may I" they gotta do.

The crazy thing is that Incorporeal Passage is Level 3, and I think Pavis of Foul Presence (which immunizes one to Presence--not sure what immunizes to Dominate) is also Level 3. Having said that, effectively immunizing...

[CaptOtter]

Dataweaver I'm 1000% down with everything you said, and frankly, didn't realize how much I wanted certain things until I read them in your comment--and despite my desire for basically kewl stuff!, I overwhelmingly would also like this addressed:



When we've played Techocrats at my table, we sort of avoided the issue of discussing what the Technocrats think is happening when they use a technological device to perform magic--I mean, when they pull out a gun and "Hot Shot", do they think there's something built into the gun that permits them to do that? Does the...

[CaptOtter]

That versatility is everything--there's practically a Path or Ritual for everything. And, in Revised at least, the game seemingly encouraged you to make up your own paths and rituals (the discussion of how to do so, and prevalence and pride with which Tremere invent their own rituals, is a given a very prominent position in Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy). Moreover, rituals like Blood Contract completely alter some of the dynamics of the game--it is huge to be able to craft (for all intents and purposes) unbreakable agreement, thereby eliminating the need for trust, and greatly minimizing...

[CaptOtter]

This is my understanding. I never allow people to play members of the Black Hand unless it's a Black Hand game. There's nothing more annoying than having most of the party social maneuvering, politicking, and otherwise playing the game of thrones, all the while one member is either off to the side brooding/smoldering, or running around trying to play Sam Fisher....

[CaptOtter]

This would be cool, though hardly metaplot agnostic. I mean, that would be a major set of developments to the metaplot. If they continue with the "toolbox" approach, I would expect them discuss Threat Null is some way or other. Having said that, I really like the idea of the Knights of Avalon/Navalon thing. Where is that stuff? Like, where can I read about Brucato's vision?...

[CaptOtter]

Overall, I've enjoyed roughly 80% of all the content that constitutes M20 (i.e., core book, HDYDT, Book of Secrets, Gods & Monsters, Book of the Fallen.) The parts I haven't liked mostly have to do with system/mechanics changes that I think "nerfed" Mages in favor trying to make them scale in power somewhat with other supernaturals (Mages are rare, naturally squishy, and sphere magic is dangerous and expensive--let them trounce vampires a little); or to attempt to 'bake in' to the system certain constraints on magic intended to make the game jibe with the de rigueur social politics...

[CaptOtter]

There's certainly no "Mind Shield" or "Illusion Pierce" charm; and I've never seen a system for it. Also, it feels more than a little reductive and heavy-handed to just say "compare level of power to Gnosis; the greater wins; if equal roll off Per+Subt v. Man+Subt". I suppose you could invent a Charm... but how would that work so that it's not garbage, or so OP that breaks any tension there might be in a "can I/can't I" analysis in trying to dupe the Spirit in question?

Has anyone confronted this problem at their table and made a house rule...

[CaptOtter]

Assuming they'd try to take M5 in a similar direction as V5 (which they may not--who can say?), I think they'd curtail magic heavily, but I seriously doubt they'd go to a Zero-Dynamic-Magic(k) setting.

That said, Revised was already an attempt to undercut Masters (read: "elders") and make the game more about street-level play, so truly the only way to go more 'down-to-earth' with it would require doing pretty extreme stuff: power levels and what can be accomplished could be capped (at the high end) at around the equivalent of having four or five dots in spheres, with none...

[CaptOtter]

If we're just naming the powers that would probably trounce nearly any vampire with stats (because who knows how Caine or Second Generation vampires function), we don't need to overthink this: Spirit of the Fray to go first, followed by...

• Paws of the Newborn Cub; and/or
• Renew the Cycle; or
• Call Great Fenris.

Not necessarily in that exact order, except for the fact that Renew the Cycle is basically purpose built to kill vampires. There's a roll-off, but let's face it, there's no guaranteed, push-button kill with these things--just powers that give one side or the other a real sweetheart...