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[Bluecho]

I've found that Mage has had a bad track record of arbitrarily sorting world esoteric and cultural traditions into "good" and "evil" columns. M20 had this same problem with putting veneration of Santa Muerte firmly in the "evil" column by making a Santa Muerte centric Nephandi cult.

And let's not get started on how it took Old White Wolf several years before they realized it probably wasn't kosher to make all rural Chinese "witchcraft" evil, by making the Wu Keng their face. And that they should probably walk that back and make non-evil, non-infernalist...

[Bluecho]

The process of retraining a feeding restriction, as described in Lore of the Clans, isn't the Ventrue changing it "whenever he likes". It's a process, and hardly a pleasant one.

Technically, it's two processes, neither are something a Ventrue would want to do on a regular basis.

The first is to enter Torpor due to hunger frenzy. Starving oneself until torpid, and hoping to get blood later, is risky at the best of times, and potentially lethal at worst, depending on the context.

The second is to hit zero blood, and then go an entire night - dusk...

[Bluecho]

RE: Sires get a "do-over" on an Embrace they were given permission for...

One must never forget that while it will certainly differ from game to game, the standards of how permission to Embrace works is also going to vary from city to city in-universe.

While the (vampiric) Traditions are consistent across all Camarilla domains (and to a lesser extent among Anarchs and Sabbat), how they are applied is up to the Kindred who unlive there. In particular, who the ruling Kindred is/are and how much power they possess matters a great deal.

If a city has...

[Bluecho]

I see not allowing Ventrue to "re-spec" their feeding preference when the old one becomes impossible to be needlessly antagonistic Storyteller behavior. People don't come to a game to find out that the character they've worked on for years is suddenly completely non-viable and doomed to die, for reasons entirely beyond their ability to control. Not because they made bad decisions, or because of a plot by a rival (that, were the ST being fair, the PC could have prevented), but because of population-wide changes that could ONLY be the result of ST fiat.

It's the Vampire equivalent...

[Bluecho]

I think I'd do something similar to AnubisXy, except I'd keep the Sabbat and Giovanni separate. And really only because I like the idea that surviving Cappadocians flocked to the Sword of Caine for protection, and fill the slot of "resident necromancers" with them.

Under this model, I'd use an idea I read elsewhere: Sabbat Cappadocians are hardcore survivalists, not only working to oppose Clan Giovanni, but also Cappadocius himself, whom the Cappadocians believe secretly survived his Diablerie (or faked it). They take the Feast of Folly as an object lesson, and are preparing...

[Bluecho]

Well, there's always Matt Colville to tide us over....

[Bluecho]

I, for one, liked this video, and want to watch the other ones in this larger "let's look at how western RPG supplements get Asian/Arabic culture wrong" series....

[Bluecho]

I'm going to agree with MyWifeIsScary. Changeling's premise is a lot less immediately approachable than "you play as a ghost".

Hell, the existence of games like Murdered: Soul Suspect is proof that "ghost simulator" is already a viable sub-genre. Heck, we knew that as far back as (the ironically named) Geist on the Gamecube.

[Bluecho]

^This.

I honestly don't think it's a good idea to hide a character's Humanity score from their player.

Yes, I can understand the intent is to be "realistic", because most folk are unaware of their moral degeneration.

But I still think the need to be open and transparent with a player is more important than enforcing character ignorance with player ignorance. It's a Social Contract thing.

Because if the player would theoretically pitch a fit about being made to roll degeneration, how much more of a fit do you think they'll pitch LATER...

[Bluecho]

It's been a while since I discussed this, but my interpretation of Disciplines in general is that they aren't immutable laws of supernatural reality, that only work because that's the only way they could ever work.

Disciplines are a set of powers discovered and refined by their inventors - usually by the first three Generations - meant for particular purposes. Their inventors wanted something out of the powers, and the sets of them we encounter are the ones that got used so often as to become ingrained in the Blood itself.

(Obviously, I'm talking V20 and earlier here....

[Bluecho]

I had to check myself, because I thought I know how it worked, but needed to check.

Your proficiency in armor/shields does NOT add the proficiency bonus to AC. Your AC is exactly what it says it is on the armor table (PHB, p. 145), based on armor worn. (Shields add a flat +2). Unarmored defense is similar, based on whatever you have for it (10 + Dex mod at base, class/spell-specific based on other sources).

Rather, the lack of proficiency in the armor/shield worn causes penalties. As this section demonstrates.


Having proficiency in armor is what allows...

[Bluecho]

^This.

The utility of the Battle Master is that it lets you do what other characters could do, but better. (Both because it lets you leverage the stat of your choice, and because you add the result of your Superiority Dice to the effect). It's a good subclass.


EDIT: Moreover, Maneuvers can be used as part of individual attacks. Since Fighters get so many of them, you could knock a target prone, then use a subsequent attack at Advantage. (And that's not even taking into account Action Surge)....

[Bluecho]

If you're right next to a prone target, you have Advantage on melee attacks against them (conversely, you have Disadvantage against prone targets if attacking at range). Advantage procs Sneak Attack damage, so that's that.

Grappling (that is, the Grappled condition) really only affects the target's speed (reduced to 0). The Grappler feat, however, gives the person grappling Advantage on attacks against the grappled target. See above.

It's worth noting, however, that initiating a grapple requires a Strength (Athletics) check. A Dex focused character is probably ill served...

[Bluecho]

I'm going to go with tsusasi on this one. Everyone forgets about the Battle Master fighter, but it does many of the things many character concepts want to do with weapons. And most of the Maneuvers are deliberately open as to what can be used to execute them (often just "a weapon attack"), so it's a versatile subclass. I've considered it as a way to play a "trick shot" gun user (for those campaigns that allow firearms).

For the concept in question, a Whip is basically all one needs, though you'd need to ask the DM if you could switch damage types where appropriate...

[Bluecho]

^This.

Sanctum only gives the Mage a break on Effects happening within the bounds of that Sanctum. It's why Archmages can live for centuries, even on Earth, so long as they stick to their little corner and never leave.

It's also why you can't just drop a fireball on someone with Correspondence and get no Paradox for it. (At least, not without being clever about disguising it, like with a gas main explosion or the like).

If it's such an obvious exploit that could break the fundamentals of the game, it's probably not the intended use or interpretation....

[Bluecho]

I would let Mask of a Thousand Faces work with clothes, if for no other reason than because I love the image of an Elder vampire who walks around naked, with only Obfuscate clothing. Basically a vampiric Emperor's New Clothes.

I say an Elder, since their Obfuscate will be high enough that only Auspex 5 vampires will be able to see through their clothe-less-ness.

It's probably either a Malkavian - who legitimately thinks they're wearing the finest clothing, and uses Obfuscate to sell the illusion - or a Nosferatu, who wants to fuck with people. Just daring anyone who can...

[Bluecho]

Thank you for the reminder.


Agreed. I suspect they erred on the side of making the alternate powers really good, to incentivize people playing Viziers or Sorcerers. (And, in the case of Sorcerers, not simply dumping all XP into Dur-An-Ki)....

[Bluecho]

Agreed.

It's not so much the idea of the power was wrong, so much as it shouldn't have been the base ability of the Warrior caste.

For one, it's too specialized and intricate to fit as a level 1 power, as you said.

For another, also as you said, it pigeon-holes the Warriors into the "blood-cannibal assassin" archetype.

And most important, for me, is that it strays way, WAY too far into the realm of Blood Magic that should rightly be the exclusive province of the Sorcerer caste. And a separate Ritual, at that, because it seems both an...

[Bluecho]

Under Cover of Darkness

Inspired By: Spy Fiction, Cop Fiction, Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Heart of Darkness, Aleister & Adolf

Premise: The PCs were agents of government, law enforcement, and intelligence, chosen some years ago to act as undercover sleeper agents within Kindred society. They were turned by captured vampires - who Embraced them due to coercion, promises of reward, or even patriotism - and set loose in the vampire world. Intended to insinuate themselves among vampires, to gather information and act an as a set of embedded assets.

Depending...

[Bluecho]

Not to mention Malkavians have a vested interest - both individually and as a Clan - to not appear as a liability to their Kindred peers. Their survival depends on it, as does their acceptance in "polite" vampire society.

Ergo, it behooves Malkavians to cover for one another. To hide mistakes, clean up messes, erase memories (you better believe those Malks who retained Dominate became very busy after the Dementation resurgence), and generally obfuscate and distract from problems their Clan-mates were having. Occasionally drag recalcitrant members - kicking and screaming...