[V5] [WIR] The Chicago Folios - Completed 9/19/2020

[CTPhipps]

The Tortoise and the Hare, Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf, and In and Out

Cast: Rosa Hernandez, Noah "Flyboy" Grewal, Darren O'Neil (Gangrel), Catherine Maia (Mortal), Paula Lange (Mortal), Walter Kravic (Mortal)

Synopsis: Rosa Hernandez finds out the CIA are hanging around O'Hara Airport to an alarming degree. She proceeds to warn Noah of his situation while seeking some sign that the Second Inquisition is after him. Noah obviously wants her off his case and hires the PCs after him. Rosa will later hire the PCs to help a DEA agent go against a cocaine trafficker and corrupt official to undermine Noah's authority.

Analysis: Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of these two adventure hooks and I'll get into the reasons why later. The easiest explanation is that while it's an interesting story of the Jyhad between two Kindred, the player characters aren't given many options to deal with it and the most interesting elements of the two competing characters are barely touched on.

The opening does show that Rosa Hernandez has come a long way from the vicious PETA animal wrongs activist eco-terrorist she once was to someone who actually deserves to be part of the Chicago Primogen. She's employing a spy to keep an eye on the Second Inquisition and has successfully deduced that the place they're most likely to be monitoring is the airports for Kindred coming and going. Her private detective, has figured out the CIA are there in large amounts but not why or how.

I really think this should have been Malcolm as he's a loyalist Gangrel and ex-cop but I understand if they wanted to focus on his newfound role as a Goblin Driver.

Noah "Flyboy" Grewal is probably the best new character to come out of Chicago by Night 5E and is a character that adds a face to the Second Inquisition as well as Thin Bloods both. He's a corrupt CIA pilot that doesn't actually want to help them wipe out Kindred and has become corrupted by both the wealth as well as power available to them. However, the only reason he's got any leverage is his CIA friends that provide him oomph beyond his Blood Potency.

The first adventure is fine because it tests the ability of the PCs to identify the problem and deal with it. The problem is a Primogen vampire is sniffing around his territory and wants to take it from him. If the PCs kill a bunch of people or go to speak with Rosa, they're bound to screw things up. They have to figure out a way to allay her fears about the CIA and throw her off the scent. All the while while the ST needs to figure out what cover story that Noah will give as to why the CIA is there at all. I feel like this adventure lacks, "The PCs interrogate one of the agents and find out Noah is a mole, siding with Rosa or the Prince" as an option.

The third adventure is the opposite of the "capture a runaway hooker for Olaf", in that Rosa Hernandez tries to tug on their heartstrings by getting them to help a DEA agent make a big bust of a cocaine smuggling ring as part of her Jyhad against Noah. Barring the PCs being among the most moral goody-goodies of the undead, I can't imagine most of them have any desire to participate in the War on Drugs and potentially screw up all manner of secret Kindred business (which it absolutely will).

I feel like a more interesting end to this is the discovery of Flyboy as a Second Inquisition plant and the fact he might actually try to bribe them. After all, the SI hates other Kindred and is a resource he's been managing to use fairly handily. I also would think there should be an option to betray Rose and/or Flyboy because the PCs should play their own angle to the Jyhad. Maybe THEY want O'Hara airport and just need the CIA to back off.

Just some thoughts here:

* Helena is actually protecting Noah and has decided to move from the Succubus Club to O'Hara. She's actually the master of the CIA agents here and they answer to her, not the US government now.
* The CIA agents aren't in the "know" and are just providing information above. They could easily be driven off by a scandal or newspaper article [perhaps with Joseph Peterson's child later in the book].
* Noah unknowingly works for the Technocracy or Pentex, not the SI and the PCs might piece this together. The NWO agent/First Team Leader in charge of him is more willing to make deals than your typical SI fanatic.
* Lucian from FORGED IN STEEL is making his haven in O'Hara and quietly supporting Noah. He's not fallen prey to the Beckoning yet but hears it. Noah is perfectly willing to diablerize the Methuselah but he's yet another player who might seize the role of Primogen for himself.
* Rosa's situation is actually fairly desperate as taking over O'Hara is the only way she thinks she can protect herself from KJ removing her to replace with Sierra Burace. Perhaps an accommodation can be reached with Noah who needs a full-blooded Kindred to exert the kind of influence he wants.
* Tyler is possibly back and wondering what the fuck happened to her airport.

[Grumpy RPG Reviews]

I've only skimmed the book, and have not read this scenario. But that this point, I agree with you assessment. All RPG scenarios should always put important opportunities, agency, and decisions in the hands of the players.

[CTPhipps]

I've only skimmed the book, and have not read this scenario. But that this point, I agree with you assessment. All RPG scenarios should always put important opportunities, agency, and decisions in the hands of the players.

It's a good book, though I am getting a start on it now because I'll be preoccupied during the Weekend. Slow and steady wins the day with WIR.

I think you'll really enjoy the NPC section when you get to read it.

[CTPhipps]

More adventure hooks!

Iron Fist: Velvet Glove, Fountain of Knowledge, Long Live the Prince

Cast: Unknown vampire, Bronwyn, Dominic Le Salle (mortal), Alan Smythe Winters (mortal), Kevin Jackson, Alan Sovereign

Synopsis: A bit of fiction about an unknown vampire commenting on the resonance of the blood at the Blue Velvet. The first adventure is about acquiring a work of art for the Blue Velvet from a jaded sculptor. The second is the player characters have an audience with Prince Jackson and Alan Sovereign.

Analysis: Iron Fist: Velvet Glove is a neat little piece of fiction that I think goes a bit over the top. The vampire talks about how amazing the Blue Velvet is, how intoxicating the senses is, and how incredible the blood is. I've always imagined the Blue Velvet as a somewhat retro jazz club that's a bit on the classier side for Kindred than the Succubus Club. As such, I feel they're trying to somewhat oversell the place. Any person who talks up a place this much means that they're either trying to sell you something or they're honestly not cool or connected enough to be there normally.

The Fountain of Knowledge adventure is a pretty solid one-shot that doesn't really have anything resembling stakes (haha) but functions as a idea of how to play the game. Bronwyn wants a reclusive artist to provide her with a sculpture for an upcoming party and the guy is just not feeling it because he recently broke up with his boyfriend. His boyfriend is stalking him and harassing him too, which isn't helping his creative juices.

The adventure lists some hilarious fail-states like the fact that if they beat the stalker up, Dominic (the sculptor) will go in hiding out of terror that mobsters are involved in his life. If they bribe Alan Smythe Winters into going away, Dominic is pissed because Smythe-Winters will go away for a very paltry sum of money. The only way to really make it work out is if they get Smythe-Winters a job and reconcile the pair. I feel like Storytellers should actually incorporate several of these events and maybe other people Bronwyn has hired so the PCs have a full comedy of errors.

* Gengis is the guy who beats Alan up and the PCs have to find Dominic then convince him to come back.
* They find out Smythe-Winters has ALREADY been bribed by Sovereign to leave and now Dominic is pissed because of the low-balling.

And so on.

The biggest weakness of this adventure is the fact that Dominate and Presence seem like they'd make it trivially easy. As such, I would suggest that both of them should be made into Thin Bloods with unusually high willpower. They're still weak as shit but it prevents the PCs from just telling Smythe-Winters to leave Dominic alone. Other options like Dominic being a Mage or Changeling Kinian creating something VERY special for the party are also possible.

Long Live the Prince isn't actually an adventure hook but just an encounter. The players meet up with the Prince and Sovereign before chatting for a bit. The only way it can be screwed up is if they're delibately rude or claim to be Anarchs--which is something the Prince would almost certainly know anyway. I'm not a fan of this and think its one of the more weaker offerings of the book.

[CTPhipps]

From the Ground Up, Grindstone, and Impresario

Cast: Milena Aronyan, Alan Sovereign

Synopsis: Milena Aronyan talks about the value of the Camarilla, Chicago, and Prince Jackson. Milena offers to help the PCs get a start-up business going. Alan Sovereign gives them $10,000 to see if they can make it work.

Analysis: The Camarilla is the exact opposite of a meritocracy. It is a gerontocracy, which is to say it is rulership by the old. It is also a feudalist society, which means that it exists to propagate the people of the proper "breeding" and who already have inheritable land-ownership. However, some individuals in the Camarilla think that it's just a matter of proving yourself and making the most of your opportunities. 25 Years of Vampire: The Masquerade's Bob says that, for him at least, it's really just about surviving long enough to get on top. Some people have the patience to do so, others do not.

Or, to quote a favorite Daniel Craig movie, “You’re born, you take shit, get out in the world, you take more shit, climb a little higher, take less shit. Till one day you're in the rarefied atmosphere and you’ve forgotten what shit even looks like. Welcome to the layer cake, son.”

What's interesting about these two adventure hooks is that they are opposite sides of viewing the Camarilla from the perspective of someone ambitious. Milena Aronyan is an incredibly upbeat and optimistic character that I really enjoy. She's a Ventrue plumber and businesswoman who believes strongly in the American Dream and has transplanted that to Kevin Jackson. She's pretty much objectively wrong because Kevin Jackson is not a reformer (quite the opposite) but is perceived as a reformer because he's a Neonate and minority Prince. It's just Milena is blind to the fact it's his Ventrue blood that matters and military force because she's a Ventrue herself. Plus, like Jackson, she's able and willing to bust heads in order to get ahead. Easily my favorite character from the book and I look forward to talking about her more.

Alan Sovereign is the opposite of viewing the Camarilla and the book explains that he's aware it's a scam. The Camarilla talks about liberty, fraternity, and equality but it's all about protecting the big leagues. The thing is that he views the awareness of this as an advantage for gaming the system. He's a white collar criminal and if he'd been born something other than a upper class white man, would have the life philosophy, "Don't hate the player, hate the game." His cynicism isn't WRONG either and he has managed to move up to being Seneschal because of it.

The adventures both give the PCs an opportunity to make a lot of money with a Ventrue sponsor but how they approach things will determine what sort of advantage they get out of it. If they just try to cheat Milena, that's going to screw them over because she's a dedicated worker with a lot of Blue collar workers who know what its like to fight for their meals. If they DON'T cheat the system with Sovereign, they'll get screwed. Weirdly, the irony is that they're not that far apart and both want to give the PCs an honest leg up. They just expect them to do it differently.

I will say I laughed outloud when I read the description that Milena thinks Kevin Jackson wants to make peace with the Anarchs using his "List of Ten." There's misreading a situation and there's MISREADING A SITUATION.

[CTPhipps]

Good evening Nightwalkers, Nightwalking

Cast: Mr. Addison (Wight), Tatyana Makarova, Vitas Varnas (Mortal)

Synopsis: A paranormal website blogger gets turned into a Thin Blood by a wight and immediately starts documenting it. A good-natured Kindred makes the mistake of trying to help him and exposes herself.

Analysis: This is a hilarious opening bit of fiction because it begins with someone enormously dropping the ball on multiple levels. Vitas Varnas is a conspiracy theorist and blogger who has apparently being doing his amateur podcast for 20+ years, meaning that while not exactly famous, he has a dedicated following from sheer inertia.

Checking out a mystery, he finally finds the real supernatural when a ghoul leads him to a wight in a basement of a property they're squatting in. Vitas gets drained dry but the wight actually Embraces him, which opens some very interesting ideas about the mindless dead. Vitas gets found by the Night Witch (i.e. ex-Russian fighter pilot during WW2) Tatyana Makarova who takes pity on him, who tries to explain some basics. So, of course Vitas announces that he's a vampire to the world and ask his listeners for help. He also mentions Tatyana by name in his podcast.

Now, really, Vitas should be dead on arrival but he has the slight advantage of the fact that his internet fandom is not QUITE so famous enough to immediately draw Kindred attention. Also, the Camarilla isn't exactly wired enough to know about podcasting. Somehow, the PCs are going to find out about it either from Tatyana or someone like Bobby Weatherbottom. This is, in simple terms, a clusterfuck and the normal Camarilla response should be to kill all three of the vampires involved. Which is unfair to Tatyana but probably for the best for Addison and maybe Varnas.
I really like this adventure and it's one that I would run because it's a really good use of the Masquerade as a Tradition. The ideal scenario for moral Kindred is that they help Tatyana destroy the wight, shut Varnas up, and then quietly cover this up. Even if the Prince discovers this, he'll be happy about it rather than upset because this is the equivalent of the good citzenship award. Most vampires would just report it to the Prince and let the slaughter commence.

The obvious complications for this are Varnas being completely stupid about advertising himself as the undead. This is the thing he's been looking for his entire life and he strikes me as a "truth is out there" kind of crusader. In my opinion, killing him is an entirely valid ending for this story and nice way of showing sometimes Kindred life sucks. Another cool thing is Mr. Addison's ghoul is still trying to arrange meals for his insane violent animal-like sire and Addison has enough self-awareness to not harm his ghoul. But you can involve all manner of other parties because while Addison's ghoul is getting rid of the bodies, the ex-Tremere is on a regular killing spree now.

SOMEONE is going to notice.

[CTPhipps]

Bar-Room Brawl and Handling Gengis

Cast: Damien, Gengis, Lewis "Lulu" Sheng, Kevin Jackson

Synopsis: Gengis screws up and frenzies in the middle of the Succubus Club while hopped up on cocaine. This is considered the last straw and many Kindred of the Camarilla demand his Final Death. The problem is that Kevin Jackson and Damien know that Gengis is an asset.

Analysis: Gengis is a character that I really liked the update for in V5. He's one of the earliest Anarchs created for V:TM and his whole premise is he's an arrogant blowhard who is more bark than bite. He's desperate for approval as a badass rebel and thus he's the kind of guy who conforms strongly to punk values. Now, decades later, he's strong enough that he's the guy who gives the orders and says what kind of values his fellow Anarchs should express.

The trick to Gengis is, though, that he would HATE the Brujah being kicked out of the Camarilla. He's someone who desperately needs authority in his life because he can't rebel against it if doesn't exist. In simple terms. he's a loyalist to the Camarilla because he defines himself by meaningless opposition to it. He's every bit the traitor to the Anarch cause that Damien is but is able to keep it secret because he still APPEARS to be a punk.

This adventure is thus a pretty good "intrigue" one as it deals with the fact Gengis' idiocy has put his handlers in an awkward spot. They've said that there's a zero tolerance policy against Anarchs and breaking the Masquerade but Gengis is their man on the inside. Sparing him would also tip off the Anarchs and Camarilla both that he's their man on the inside (even in Gengis never would admit it).

The biggest problem with this adventure is the players are unlikely to ever find out the deeper meanings of this problem without somehow figuring out that Gengis is the mole. I think to modify this adventure that Gengis should panic at some point and reveal his secret status at some point in hope of clemency. Which makes things even more complicated as they're now a liability. Sort of like the scene from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels where Steve Martin's character desperately tries to call upon Michael Cain's character for help out of jail, not knowing that he's the reason he's been arrested in the first place.

Either way, the big thing the player characters can do here is that they can influence the reaction fairly easily. KJ just needs an excuse to spare Gengis but the players can also force the issue to get him executed. They can also decide whether he'd be more useful/more of a anger to the Anarch cause as a martyr than as someone who is a living traitor. I also take this moment that if they get Gengis killed, they make an enemy of Damien. That's because, in 1st Edition and 2nd Edition, Gengis was Damien's best friend.

It's my opinion that Damien is the guy who came up with the "Anarch List" in the first place. I don't think Gengis is smart enough for it and while Kevin Jackson is, it also strikes me that Damien would want to see some of his friends spared.

Another angle that is underdeveloped here is that one of the Anarchs involved in this, Lulu, is actually the guy behind drugging Damien because he's working for Al Capone. Al Capone may or may not know Gengis is a catspaw but either way he hates the Anarchs as well as Kevin Jackson so it's two birds with one stone.

[CTPhipps]

I updated the Introduction section because I don't think I properly addressed just what kind of book THE CHICAGO FOLIOS actually is:

http://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/main-category/main-forum/the-classic-world-of-darkness/vampire-the-masquerade/1388414-v5-wir-the-chicago-folios-and-let-the-streets-run-red?p=1388508#post1388508

[The Gentleman Gamer]

As mentioned to you when you assumed it in Chicago by Night, it isn't stated anywhere that Sovereign is Jewish. I'm not sure where you've picked up the idea that he is.

[CTPhipps]

As mentioned to you when you assumed it in Chicago by Night, it isn't stated anywhere that Sovereign is Jewish. I'm not sure where you've picked up the idea that he is.

I suspect the reason was due to an adventure I played in which got into his character. It was during my formative years of gaming (circa 1993-1999). Alan Sovereign showed his better side by helping them assassinate a Nazi vampire buying his way into the Camarilla. The character was undoubtedly picked because he was an underused one (at least at our table) and having him as an unexpected ally benefited our opinion of him. So, Fanon leaked into my head as canon. You corrected me on this before and I'm embarrassed to have forgotten it.

Thanks for that.

Speaking with the wisdom of hindsight, making Sovereign Jewish would be a bit stereotypical (versus, say, making someone like Anita Wainwright or Ramrod Jewish) but my ST was about 14 at the time. On the other hand, it adds an interesting angle to explore with Sovereign's other relationships and perhaps a reason why he identifies more with an outlier like Kevin Jackson. I'm going to assume he's just flat out not, though, by your word.

Corrected in the above post.

[The Gentleman Gamer]

I suspect the reason was due to a previous ST during my formative years of Chicago by Night (circa 1993-1999) where there was an adventure I played in which got into his character a bit. Alan Sovereign showed his better side by helping them assassinate a Nazi vampire buying his way into the Camarilla. The character was undoubtedly picked because he was an underused one (at least at our table) and having our PCs as an unexpected ally there benefited our opinion of him. So, Fanon leaked into my head as canon. You corrected me on this before and I'm embarrassed to have forgotten it.

Thanks for that.

Speaking with the wisdom of hindsight, making Sovereign Jewish would be a bit stereotypical (versus, say, making someone like Anita Wainwright or Ramrod Jewish) but my ST was about 14 at the time. On the other hand, it adds an interesting angle to explore with Sovereign's other relationships and perhaps a reason why he identifies more with an outlier like Kevin Jackson. I'm going to assume he's just flat out not, though, by your word.

Corrected in the above post.

Believe me, as someone of Jewish descent I've nothing against more Jewish characters appearing in games, media, whatever. What I don't want is the weaselly financier character to be assumed as Jewish, because that brings with it a lot of negative connotations. And sure, Ramrod could well be Jewish.

[CTPhipps]

Believe me, as someone of Jewish descent I've nothing against more Jewish characters appearing in games, media, whatever. What I don't want is the weaselly financier character to be assumed as Jewish, because that brings with it a lot of negative connotations. And sure, Ramrod could well be Jewish.

Understandably so.

Now I'm imagining Ramrod thrashing some Elders (Balthazar and Ballard perhaps) with antiquated views.

[CTPhipps]

The Unfortunate Embrace, More Complicated than it seems, and Shut it Down

Cast: Alex Santos, Enzo Tovani, Seraphine de Winter, Talley, Kevin Jackson, Gabriella

Synopsis: A ghoul of Marcus Vitel is Embraced by an old enemy of his in order to get a small measure of revenge. The ghoul, terrified of her master's revenge, proceeds to keep her true allegiance secret while Kevin Jackson decides her final fate. The second adventure is about how a Nosferatu hacker is working to try to shut down a paranormal website.

Analysis: I've always been a fan of Marcus Vitel and it's a nice statement here that he not only succeeded in his retaking of Washington D.C. as described in Beckett's Jyhad Diary but that he has managed to hold onto it well into V5. This was confirmed in The Camarilla I believe but it's nice to have it repeated.

He's the Emperor of Washington D.C. and technically an Anarch as I understand it, having decided to just recruit the East Coast's hardened warriors and use them to retake the nation's capital for himself. With 2000 years under his belt, Lucius Sejanus is capable of motivating a bunch of rabble to obey his laws and both the Sabbat as well as Camarilla have screwed him in the past. Oh and despite being a Methuselah twice over, Marcus has managed to avoid the Beckoning.

This isn't about Marcus, however, but his agent who has been turned into a vampire by a travelling enemy of Marcus. I'm inclined to think Enzo Tovani should be a Lasombra defector to the city (or someone who plans to defect to the city) because they have a reason to hate Marcus more than most. He was, after all, a Sabbat traitor before it was cool. They also probably don't know about Marcus' role in their clan's defection. Still, ANY former citizen of Washington D.C. has a good reason to loathe the tyrant Prince.

Unfortunately, I do have a small complaint about this adventure. Seraphine de Winter doesn't have much of a role in this story. I feel like she's a more interesting character if she DOES speak up with a "do you know who I am, Ancilla?" You could make a good comedy of errors out of this with the newly Embraced Seraphine being high and mighty rather than acting subservient. Kevin might also want to foster the Neonate on the PCs so that he doesn't take the blame for his emissary taking the blame and Marcus losing a good daytime servant. I also feel like Alex Santos doesn't get much of a reason to be involved.

I really like Alex the Scourge. She's a character with a lot of mysteries and uncertain motivations.

Shut it down is a fairly simple story where they're trying to put down a paranomal website. Just making it disappear doesn't actually harm the data as it's probably backed up and a new website can be put up soon after. The Camarilla doesn't understand this, though, or why they need to find the Administrator. So, Gabrielle needs to find the guy or find some way to discredit the piece.

Were I to do this adventure, I'd do it as a sequel to Nightwalking. Vitas Varnas after getting educated by Tatyana Marakova and PROMISING that he'd do better, has immediately gone into hiding and started a newer/better website. It would be a nice way of "rewarding" the PCs for doing the same thing by having Vitas prove himself to be a liar who wants to expose the paranormal more than anything else.

The players will be in hot water if he's found up to his old tricks and the best solution is to kill him. Another interesting twist might be that he's protected by the Second Inquisition and is a Roach Motel trap for Kindred Ancilla. They come to shut down the website and the Hunters descend while Vitas gets to live another night.
I've probably thought way too much about this.

[CTPhipps]

Chance Encounters with Hunters and Beware the Huntsmen

Cast: Cedrick Calhoun [as Khalid],. Wauneka, The Night's Cross

Synopsis: A chance encounter with a group of hunters followed by the assassination of a Kindred scholar results in the uncovering of an entire army of killers.

Analysis: This is a very different sort of adventure from the typical ones we've discussed so far. So far the vast majority of the adventures have been heavily socially focused adventures where one Kindred is trying to one up another in the petty games of Elysium. This is a very different one where the "optimal" ending results in the player characters joining the Prince's minions to have a massive street battle that may have dozens of casualties.

Which necessitates to use this song:

The Night's Cross is a example of how dangerous the Second Inquisition has become with a bunch of ex-military veterans [explicitly identified as being "Far Right"], military grade weapons, and a megachurch base that is presumably providing them material support as well as a way to launder money for their crusade. My inclination is that Kevin Jackson fully believes this group has to be killed the last man because you don't let vampire hunters live as an undead. It's just this an entire paramilitary army that has emerged in recent years rather than a few deranged lunatics with stakes.

I think that it might be interesting to have the player characters try to come up with less violent and less apocalyptic ways of dealing with this branch of the SAD. After all, a bunch of religious terrorists should be relatively easy to do, right? Well, not really as even if they are willing to risk another Waco, the player characters are facing an organization with government ties of its own. Another, potentially Humanity-losing way that might be better than turning Chicago into a battleground would be to send waves of Dominated Chicago cops against them. Starting a firefight that gets police killed would be a way to discredit the organization and get members killed or locked away for life.

I do note that this adventure exposes one of the weaknesses of the Second Inquisition to the Camarilla. This group is prepping for a big epic fight [and you can end up giving it to them] but subtlety is the name of the game here. As I talked about with Under the Blood Red Moon, the Garou are always going to win if the vampires choose to fight them mano-a-mano but Kindred shouldn't ever allow themselves to be in that sort of situation to begin with unless their name is Karsh, Talley, or the Wolf Pack.

I think if I were to run this adventure, I would encourage my PCs to try to think of solutions that don't involve things turning into a Call of Duty level. That's a perfectly valid way of running it and if you want an adventure to cut loose with Obfuscate sneak attacks, Potence strikes, and Lure of Flames rituals then this certainly is the one time the Camarilla will be entirely at your back. However, it also strikes me that such a thing will also be an enormous Gondorian torch that will send up a sign that says, "The vampires are here! Avenge your fellow hunters!" Apparently the leader of the Night's Cross is also a former CIA agent.

One thing I also like about this adventure hook is that Cedrick Calhoun mentions that the first victim of the Night's Cross is studying Mictlantechutli from Diablerie: Mexico. I have a soft spot for Mitcl that dates back to my early years running Chicago by Night. I very much hope that they decide to canonize that he survived the adventure and is still running around the World of Darkness. While he was a Gangrel in the original module, you could retcon him into one of the Drowned. I also note that Cedrick Calhoun is still impersonating Khalid in his letters and I admit that there's a lot of potential comedy for that scenario.

When I run Cedrick impersonating Khalid, I play up that Cedrick isn't actually a GOOD actor and often overplays the "mysterious wise old foreigner" act too much. The irony being that most Elder Kindred pretty much dismissed him as that anyway. I also had Critias and Annabelle completely aware that "Khalid" is a fraud but just shrugged their shoulders and let Cedrick take his position because that's how the game is played. Both of them, at least at my table, assume Cedrick diablerized him. Obviously, this is a problem as the other Nosferatu knew Khalid much-much better than Cedrick and quite a few considered him a good friend worthy of advenging. Not that they could do much to Nerissa Blackwater if they did try to challenge her over Khalid's death [which is my present theory as to what happened to him vs. the Beckoning].

[Taggie]

CTPhipps my old Runners mind is seeing so many accidents a bunch of terrorists could have with their arsenal, negligent handling of explosives, and a helping hand to combine the two, megachurch fall down go boom. Let the police, ATF and FBI handle the domestic terrorists who had such a vast illegal stash of weapons after such a public disaster. In, out, clean as clean. Plus if they are known as political extremists in the first place, supressing the idea that they where after anything outside of a new civil war should not be hard.