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[Bluecho]

My issue with this change was that it made a power that was presumably for all Assamites - of all castes - too much like blood sorcery. It sounds more like a Ritual than a native part of the Clan's kit.

Especially weird, since DAV20 positioned the Vizier caste as being the "vanilla" Assamites. What are scholars, artisans, and diplomats doing with that kind of power?...

[Bluecho]

So, my issue with Oblivion is twofold: Perverse Incentives and Opportunity Cost.

The Perverse Incentives has been well established in this thread. When you create a Discipline whose downsides are so severe, you encourage players to never use it. Or to use it so sparingly as to call into question why you bothered to invest in it or the Clan in the first place. (More on that when I discuss Opportunity Cost).

A game mechanic ought to, by its design, encourage players to do what you want them to do.

Example: the Ventrue have a combination of Disciplines and Weakness...

[Bluecho]

I'm definitely throwing my lot in with the "this is already happening as we speak". The Methuselahs/Antes simply don't advertise. Why would they?

The question is not "is the Camarilla controlled by even more ancient and powerful vampires?". It's "which ones, and to what end?".

[Bluecho]

On the subject of Bloodlines 2, I have very little confidence at this point. The longer a project is delayed, the less likely whatever comes out will actually be good. Especially if it's divorced from the artists that drove its creative process.

Other writers can be brought on. But they would be trying to bolt together an existing game into something coherent. This can work well. I'm reminded of Demon's Souls, a game that no one at FromSoft thought had a chance, but which Hidetake Miyazaki came in and transformed into a cult classic that turned into a beloved franchise. (Miyazaki...

[Bluecho]

My view of the shovelhead method is that it being unreliable is a Feature, not a bug. At least from a storytelling standpoint.

No matter how effective it can be, it's still a reckless tactic. The Sabbat employs it in war because it's 1) cheap to do in terms of time and resources, and 2) prone to creating problems for their enemies even when it doesn't work out perfectly. From the perspective of the Sabbat, who have no care for human lives and have a "it's the Camarilla's problem" approach to the Masquerade (at least in Cam cities), there's little reason NOT to do it....