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

[CTPhipps]

"Is this one of yours?" and Clear as Day

Cast: Bronwyn, Hugo and Violet Meyer [Thinbloods]

Synopsis: A pair of psychotic and evil Thin Bloods begin a rampage across Chicago's Blood Bank system.

Analysis: This one is a pretty blatant homage to Natural Born Killers and they even name check the movie in the description, which I have to give them credit for. At least it has the concept of a husband and wife team of psychopaths that are engaged in incredibly public crime that has become subject to media scrutiny. In this case, the pair of Thin Bloods are openly robbing Blood Mobiles and stealing the contents. This has actually happened a couple of times in real life and gets the same reaction of, "Maybe it was thirst crazed vampires!" joking reaction. I imagine it would not be treated as funny if the robbers murdered the people involved.

This is another fairly straightforward adventure and of the kind I prefer to call "Sabbat Hijinks" adventures. Part of why I think the Sabbat needs to come back is not just because I think plenty of Black Hand fans should have the option to play their favorite characters but because they are a source of very easy adventure fodder. There's a Sabbat serial killer on the loose, a Sabbat pack is raising hell in your area, and an evil cult has begun recruiting the homeless into their Doomsday cult that actually ends up Embracing them as shovelheads. Things that aren't big on moral ambiguity but is just the bad vampires [the PCs] versus the worst vampires [the Sabbat].

The Meyers family aren't Sabbat but they might as well be. I like the fact that they're Duskborn/Thin Bloods because it shows that not all of them are going to be "humans with fangs" that is the traditional depiction of them. Even if their Beast and Hunger are far weaker than most, they still have a Beast and Hunger. The transition to a new life among the undead was also particularly traumatic for them as they apparently fed on their family. For the sake of maximum horror and explaining why they're completely nuts, I would suggest that their family included their own children.

There's no room to negotiate here and the Meyers are the worst sort of people now even if they weren't before. I actually don't think the adventure would be helped much by making them more ambiguous as sometimes you just want to make a point that people go irrevocably wrong. You could maybe have their sire show up and reveal that they was trying to save their lives after feeding on them or something similarly sympathetic. The Meyers would just want to kill him or her but it might add another layer to the story.

More interesting to me is the use of the Circulatory System that I feel like can either be treated as a valuable resource or the most horrifying thing in Kindred society. They provide blood in a delivery system that allows vampires to not necessarily expose themselves or others to danger. Bagged blood is not as lucrative to them as human vessels but it is something every Kindred would want within easy reach, IMHO. All vampires would want to take the edge off if they could even it's a microwavable TV dinner compared to sex/heroin. However, depending on how you treat them, they could very well also be outright human traffickers and modern day slavers.

Which is a great potential enemy in any campaign.

[CTPhipps]

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.

Great idea, Taggie and I think a perfectly valid one to make trouble for the Second Inquisition. I think that kind of subtlety is much better for the Camarilla to engage in than trying to directly take down all the vampire hunters. Even if the SI is able to get some of them free, the media attention would be an enormous headache for them and their efforts. They, unlike vampires, don't have Dominate after all.

[Taggie]

Great idea, Taggie and I think a perfectly valid one to make trouble for the Second Inquisition. I think that kind of subtlety is much better for the Camarilla to engage in than trying to directly take down all the vampire hunters. Even if the SI is able to get some of them free, the media attention would be an enormous headache for them and their efforts. They, unlike vampires, don't have Dominate after all.

Disciplines and training make for terrifying 'runners' (which considering the apparent idea of neonates as cyberpunks/shadowrunners makes perfect sense), use that, why have a war when Obfuscate, the hand loading powder store, and a timed charge make a far more elegant solution.

[Grumpy RPG Reviews]

I’ll have more later. But for the moment;

Sovereign never struck me as Jewish, either as a simple character trait or as a Jewish stereotype. I always thought of him, in religious terms, as just an evil WASP type.

Long Live the Prince is, for my money, good at least. The party has this accidental chance to meet the Prince and the Seneschal, and this means they have a chance to make a good impression. Most vampires crawl all over each other like so many roaches for that kind of chance. But what do you think the odds are that a PC is going to go all “Constitutional Peasant,” given the opportunity?

In Good Evening Nightwalkers, Nightwalking I would have the SI move in and snap-up Varnas. Candidly I’m not certain how the party could know it was the SI which grabbed him. But in any case, it would make for an interesting event in terms of him as a lose thread – the SI grabbed him as a potential source of information. The party may attempt to cover for this by lying to the Prince’s court and saying Varnas is dead, or cop to the fact he got away while not mentioning he was grabbed by armed and armored hunters. Let the players worry about how this will play out in the long term.

And I think this would be better music for the combat scene in A Chance Encounter with Hunters, starting at about the 2 minute mark.

Joking aside, this scenario is basically an inverted version of Assault on Precinct 13. In the film by John Carpenter, cops kill some members of a street gang. The street gang is then out for revenge on civilians and cops alive, and attacks the titular precinct station. The cops (and criminals caught inside during the siege) might not be good, but they are the protagonists and the story is centered on their narrative.

A Chance Encounter with Hunters is the same scenario, more or less, but it centers the narrative on the street gang – i.e. the vampires who are provoked by the hunters, who are holding up in the church. The vampire powers will give the PCs some solid advantages to the attack, but it should not be a cake walk. Also, in as much as possible, it should not be a street fight, but a difficult fight in close quarters inside the building. Specifically, inside a building where combat veterans have spent considerable time preparing for a possible attack. The vampires need to get in an kill everyone. The hunters just need to wait for dawn, and the appearance of first responders, and so on.

Maybe Varnas is hanging with these hunters.

In any case, the difficulty of the fight – and that it would be a Masquerade breach – is why the coterie should handle it with guile. Unless, in their complacent arrogance, they want to turn it into a massive fight. The players are free to make such a decision, but should not be free from the consequences of their actions.

However it plays out, it could turn into a massive rallying cry for hunters.

[CTPhipps]

I’ll have more later. But for the moment

Thanks for your continued participation!

Long Live the Prince is, for my money, good at least. The party has this accidental chance to meet the Prince and the Seneschal, and this means they have a chance to make a good impression. Most vampires crawl all over each other like so many roaches for that kind of chance. But what do you think the odds are that a PC is going to go all “Constitutional Peasant,” given the opportunity?

My biggest issue here is that there's not really an adventure here so much as an Encounter. If, for instance, the PCs aren't going to be stupid enough to disrespect the Prince here then nothing really much is going to happen. It's like David S. Pumpkins. "Any questions?" "Yes. Several." Still, I suppose it is a meeting that could have far reaching consequences like Sovereign charging them a boon for it even if they waste their time.

You could also have whatever KJ or Sovereign follow up with the meeting be their "real" goal. Like if the PCs express Anarch sympathies, they get used as diplomats or if they're all about the SI, they get appointed to be the counter-Hunter analysts. KJ feeling out Kindred for posts in his administration.

In Good Evening Nightwalkers, Nightwalking I would have the SI move in and snap-up Varnas. Candidly I’m not certain how the party could know it was the SI which grabbed him. But in any case, it would make for an interesting event in terms of him as a lose thread – the SI grabbed him as a potential source of information. The party may attempt to cover for this by lying to the Prince’s court and saying Varnas is dead, or cop to the fact he got away while not mentioning he was grabbed by armed and armored hunters. Let the players worry about how this will play out in the long term.

It would make a very good climax to the story, IMHO. I definitely think Varnas seems like a good guy to subvert expectations of "good deeds equal good outcomes", though. He's a guy who has devoted his life to the paranormal and exposing it. Becoming a vampire means he can now do that. If the PCs try and waste their time protecting him because he's an innocent, he's probably going to end up ruining that. Making him as a guy who would work for the government and Second Inquisition is also an interesting twist, especially if he shows up months later giving coded messages to hunters or worse from an unknown location.

Joking aside, this scenario is basically an inverted version of Assault on Precinct 13. In the film by John Carpenter, cops kill some members of a street gang. The street gang is then out for revenge on civilians and cops alive, and attacks the titular precinct station. The cops (and criminals caught inside during the siege) might not be good, but they are the protagonists and the story is centered on their narrative.

When you say inverted Assault on Precinct-13 I tend to think of The Raid and Judge Dredd. I do think Second Inquisition Hunters are one of the rare occasions that vampires can utterly go nuts with their Disciplines, though. Most games won't have Nosferatu sneaking up behind people to slit their throats, shooting up the place with Celerity, or other craziness. In my Straight Outta Fangton books, I occasionally throw in Blade-esque action sequences and this could be a chance for that.

Or maybe I'm just a fan of the assault on the Society of Leopold in Bloodlines. That was the only big action section of the game I think worked very well.

Maybe Varnas is hanging with these hunters.

I actually appreciate the fact the Night's Cross exists in this book. It's a bare bones description of what they are and who they are but you could easily build a Chronicle around dealing with them as they're a decent-sized enemy that destroying could be the focus of the PC's efforts. It also is the kind of group that you can use to show has popped up in the wake of the Second Inquisition and can threaten an entire city (or get slaughtered by a sufficiently determined group of PCs).

If you use the Society of Leopold or Arcanum, they're going to be threats that continue. However, this can be a group the PCs permanently destroy or could expand far more.

Plus, the stats for its members are included.

In any case, the difficulty of the fight – and that it would be a Masquerade breach – is why the coterie should handle it with guile. Unless, in their complacent arrogance, they want to turn it into a massive fight. The players are free to make such a decision, but should not be free from the consequences of their actions.

However it plays out, it could turn into a massive rallying cry for hunters.

Despite it being a terrible idea, my player characters at my homegame have a bit of kidnapping Hunters or leaving one alive after battles in order to try to Blood Bond, Presence, Dominate, or simply bribe them. They've done a pretty good job of this sort of thing and using them to feed misinformation to the Inquisitors or send them after their enemies. You know, that profoundly stupid idea that the Camarilla thought was smart.

Still, I've gotten some good results from it.

LA BY NIGHT did something similar with Nelli G and Gregory the SAD agent.

[CTPhipps]

Dearest Club Member and Exclusive Invitation

Cast: Annabelle, Karyn Stanislava (Toreador), The Black Roses

Synopsis: There's a decadent and evil(e) gang of Toreador (than normal) that regularly host incredibly exclusive balls where the most heinous debaucheries go on. The PCs are hired to go in and see what's what.

Analysis: I am a huge fan of Ashwood Abbey over in Hunter: The Vigil. I've adapted them to multiple World of Darkness games by me. I had them as a group that had branches in most major cities in America and a club that virtually all Pentex executives belong to. For those unfamiliar with the organization, it's basically just a club of rich people that engage in horrible depravities because regular sex, drugs, and alcohol no longer fulfill them. They technically qualify as a "Hunter" group because this ocassionally results in them capturing a vampire or other supernatural for their games. Unlike the Hunt Club, they don't have any real sense of sport and this is just the ultra-rich's torture porn. It's an idea that has shown up in media like Hostel and The Following.

I think I may have been influenced in my interpretation of Ashwood Abbey by Chris Claremont's take on the Hellfire Club as there's just something so very appropriate about the rich and powerful celebrating their godlike power over the poor in increasingly sociopathic ways. I won't lie that I got a wee bit political since my campaign is set in Jacksonville, Florida and when the PCs were prisoners of the club, its murder party was set in a certain Presidential resort.

Obviously, in the World of Darkness, you don't need to have it be a human based organization [though I think Project: Twilight's Star Chamber is a good one] but can get most of it done with the Toreador. I've always had it be in my description of the Roses that there's "always a darker party." Most of their parties are public and pretty staid affairs but when they're alone? Well, the Toreador is a creature that constantly seeks newer and darker forms of artistic expression as well as pleasure. The Beast is the one part of a vampire who feels so the idea there's a horrible sex-murder party every year in Chicago only surprises me by the fact that it's kept a secret.

Anyway, the Black Roses remind me of Ashwood Abbey and while we don't get anything more than a cursory write-up for the group, its evocative enough that I feel like they tick most of the boxes of what I like. It could very well be the kind of enemy that I would use for a whole Chronicle. After all, once the player characters visit their party, they can potentially bring the wrath of a bunch of Toreador Elders down on themselves. I've often said that is the WORST Elder group because few clans are as vindictive and spiteful on such an emotional level for the most petty of reasons.


The premise of the adventure is fairly straight forward as they get into the party Eyes Wide Shut style and find that it is full of horrifying depravities. The suggestion of the book is that they have kidnapped a bunch of Thin Bloods and are enjoying draining them dry. This makes sense to me as I think diablerie of Thin Bloods has all the pleasure of amaranth (sp?) with none of the legal drawbacks.

After all, Thin Bloods aren't "real" Kindred according to the Camarilla. It doesn't have to be Thin Bloods being diablerized but you could also have "vanilla" party favors of children, regular mortals who will be drained dry, or other things as they allow you to go nuts. This strikes me as the kind of party where you should either refer to things in the abstract, "You see things you never imagined would be carried out in the most disgusting and depraved acts that a man or vampire could do. The Sabbat would be proud" or clear with your player characters ahead of time what sort of topics will be handled for the sake of an enjoyable game by all.

The consequences for disrupting the party by freeing the meals or burning the place down, literally, could result in a Blood Hunt on the player characters. After all, these are people with bank and cachet in the Camarilla even if Annabelle protects them [and she might just be upset she wasn't invited this year].

Some interesting ways to expand on this that occurred to me?

* Son may be a guest of honor at tonight's festivities or at least a Master of Ceremonies. Alex Santos may also be participating.
* The Second Inquisition actually helps in this as they were tracking the club nationally and offer to help the PCs eliminate the other survivors if they help them. These Inquisitors being aware these are the worst of vampirekind.
* The PCs are smart enough to get video footage of the Black Roses atrocities and while Kevin Jackson is no shrinking violet, it's enough to sicken even his stomach and something he'd consider a serious Masquerade violation. At the very least, they should have informed him what was going on [which he then would have refused].
* The Duskborn and Anarchs have had enough and flat out intend to revolt against them. This is just the excuse the Prince needs to wipe them all out.
* The Black Roses are actually a bunch of Toreador Antitribu who have defected from the Sabbat and made a name for themselves with the main clan via their avante garde art. Ironically, in something only the Toreador would care about, they're just recycling very common Sabbat "performance art" pieces.
* The Black Roses are actually a cover for a blood cult. Either "real" Bahari pain worshipers or the Nephilim, who are considered jaded sociopaths in a clan of jaded sociopaths.

And no review of this would be complete without the video of Ghost's DANCE MACABRE.

[CTPhipps]

Help for Hire - Warehouse Rebuilding, Seeking Employment

Cast: Amelia Locke

Synopsis: Ventrue reporter Amelia Locke seeks the player characters' advice and resources to build a new Elysium but has no idea what to make it.

Analysis: The final adventure hook of the Camarilla is a rather interesting one in that it leaves it up to the players to "make their own fun." I don't mind those and they can be incredibly exciting. Basically, Amelia has some property that they can convert to anything they want and the players just need to let their imagination run wild. A club is my favorite but the game actually poo-pahs this. It also suggests making a library, which seems terribly unfun.

Other ideas that I could see pursued:

* Blood Brothel
* Blood Bank
* Strip Club
* Underground Casino
* Bank (built for laundering money)
* Internet cafe

Not much to say about this one but it's an unconventional hook that I think works well.

[CTPhipps]

Chapter Two: The Anarchs Account

The next chapter of the books begins with this one and I probably won't be quite as fast with it. Basically, it's a bunch of chapters related to the Anarchs and this was easily the part of the story that I was most excited about.

This chapter opens with one of the best pieces of art for V5 in my mind with Anita Wainwright giving a impassioned speech to an army of Anarchs in a park, presumably during a Rant of some kind. I think Anita is probably the character, aside from Kevin Jackson and maybe Damien, who benefited the most from the transition to V5. Previously, she was just a minor supoporting character and the "softer" face of the Anarchs. I got a lot out of her but I feel like making her the Anarch leader in Chicago really showed a lot more layers to her character. We also have the fact I really get her darker side and the anger that was always underneath her sweet Humanity 9 exterior.

This art piece captures that intensity perfectly.



Oddly, I would say the three paragraphs at the start of this chapter do perhaps more to talk about the State of the Anarchs in the World of Darkness than 75% of The Anarch sourcebook. I don't mean that as a diss to said book but mostly it's a matter of giving a very neat and simple synopsis for saying "What is the state of the Anarchs, how do they interact with the Camarilla, and how are they treated?"

If the Camarilla are the CEOs gazing down on the city, the Anarchs may be likened to the homeless — hated by the big man for just wanting to survive. Just like city councils spend thousands on trying to rid themselves of the homeless population, the Camarilla would prefer if the Anarchs stopped existing. In truth, many Anarchs just want to spend their unlife free from the shackles of those who, for no reason, have determined that they are superior.

When large groups of Anarchs congregate, it makes the Camarilla nervous about another uprising. They are, at most, tolerated by the Ivory Tower, especially if they all follow the Traditions. Since they are not part of the Camarilla in these nights, Anarchs don’t fall under the protection of their laws. Killing Anarchs is an acceptable thing, especially thin-bloods, as long as the murder doesn’t cause too much of a stir. To avoid annoying the big man, free Kindred form their own circles and hunting grounds.

Chicago is a big city, so most Anarchs manage to hunt without stepping on the toes of the elite sect. However, some go looking for trouble. Anarchs can’t let the Camarilla think their silence is compliance with their laws and rulings.

So much said in so few words. The Anarchs are people the Camarilla wants to destroy but are going to ignore for the most part. It's very much like the mafia and competing gangs now. It also sets up a nice scenario where the Sheriff and Hounds may harass you for no reason or kill your friends but do you dare escalate the fight?

[CTPhipps]

Beckoning Whispers and Reopening a Cold Case

Cast: Ian Ramussen

Synopsis: A now-deceased Anarch has hired a private investigator to track down Tyler. He is, unfortunately, good enough to endanger the Masquerade.

Analysis: I have mixed feelings on this adventure hook. Not because it's not awesome, it is. It's because that it's not terribly Anarch related and doesn't quite establish this chapter as an opening bit of fiction. I would have maybe preferred something related to Gengis, Anita, Maldavis, or the Movement in general. Tyler is related to the Anarchs (obviously) but as a Beckoned Elder, she plays only a minor role here. However, that's a small complaint and I'm going to give kudos to the adventure for a good Masquerade story.

Really, the adventure is built around the character of Ian Ramussen, who seems like he deserves his own full character write-up. A private detective who specializes in missing persons, he has his own radio show and apparently its popular with some genuinely sadistic Kindred who listen to it in order to find out if the people they've murdered are going to show up on it. I feel like that's a kind of very specific sort of fetish and more appropriate to someone like son or Alexa Santos.

Either way, Ian is good enough that he actually manages to track down Tyler or at least a good lead on her and that's potential gold for Anarchs. Mind you, apparently Tyler sightings are a dime a dozen among Kindred since she shows up in The Anarch where she stakes a local Sheriff. 25 Years of Vampire: The Masquerade took the piss out of that premise, though, as Tyler isn't a kind of legendary Robin Hood figure but has been living as a member of Chicago's Primogen for a century.

To steal their joke, it went sort of like this:

Neonate: I saw Tyler! Would you believe it!? She showed up and saved me from the Sheriff.

Bob: [commenting] Oh that's cool. Where were you, Indianapolis? Gary?

Either way, Ian is smart enough to have cracked the Masquerade and the PCs can either kill him or Embrace him or try to use him as he's too smart not to do it again. I might also give him the Iron Will merit since that's something I feel is probably more common than most merits but very useful for specific stories.

If you want to do some more historical work for this adventure, you might substitute Detective Gregory Stephens or William Shepherd (now retired from the FBI) for this. They already know about Kindred but they bring their own set of problems. Kevin Jackson may also want to crack down on aware mortals since he is selling himself as the zero tolerance for Masquerade breach candidate.

[CTPhipps]

New Adventure

I was inspired by THE CHICAGO FOLIOS to do my own adventure in their style. I hope you enjoy.

Love be an Anarch

Cast: Anita Wainwright, Marc Levensque, Annabelle, Francis [mortal], Maldavis [possibly], and Genevieve McAllister [mortal].

What Happened

Annabelle Triabell is a Kindred who constantly struggles against ennui and one of the ways she does so by engaging in the kind of games that other Elders might find gauche. Reading some Kindred books about the old Toreador Courts of Love in France during the Dark Ages (see the Dark Age Clan Novels) she decides to weave an epic romance story of her own with some unsuspecting Kindred. Rather than weave her charms on any of her peers who actually matter, she's decided to instead "help" Anita Wainwright and Marc Levesque fall in love. The fact they are two of the most important Anarchs in Chicago mean that they will owe her (in Annabelle's mind at least) if it succeeds and might tear apart the Anarch Center if it doesn't.

There is the slight problem that both Anita Wainwright and Marc Levesque are both: A:] Already in relationships with their mortal Touchstones. B:] In mourning over their past loves. C:] Coworkers who have displayed no romantic interest in one another. Annabelle's Auspex isn't entirely off the mark, though, as she senses the spark of something that could be ignited but could very easily lead to something other than love.

As such, Annabelle approaches the PCs to act as her Shakespearean co-conspirators in trying to arrange for the two to have eros bloom between the two. Annabelle promises to reward the PCs if they help with her plan is very good at framing it as a good thing for both targets. She will even help the Anarch cause if necessary and potentially blackmails Maldavis to serve as her mouthpiece in this if the PCs are unwilling to listen to any Camarilla elder.

Annabelle has suggestions that sound like something out of a badly written romance novel ranging from breaking up the vampires with their love interests, endangering one, or sending the PC in to plant the seeds of love directly [voluntarily or not]. Annabelle is the kind of woman who thinks Tremere love potions are a viable option so PCs should try to reign her in if possible.

With some effort, the PCs discover that neither Anita or Marc's mortal love interests are entirely happy with their arrangements. Francis believes [correctly] he's just a substitute for Anita's sire, Theodore Dooley, and is only remaining with her because of the Blood Bond. Even under its influence, his love for his Anita isn't romantic anymore and he just wants the Embrace. Genevieve believes Marc is also using her as a substitute for a coworker he's occasionally mentioned and will create a scene if she ever meets Anita as they do have an uncanny similarity in both looks as well as temperament. She's unaware Marc is a vampire, though, and would be horrified if she learned the truth.

What Could Happen

* Events turn out horrific as Annabelle arranges for Francis to kill Genevieve on the grounds of her being a Second Inquisition spy [she's not], Marc kills Francis in a retaliatory frenzy, and Anita vows to kill him in return. The Anarch Center immediately splits down sectarian lines with several Anarchs killed in the resulting feud, possibly including both Anita and Marc. Annabelle is disappointed with the results in romantic terms but quite pleased in practical ones. They gain a 3 point Malwa in the Primogen and a major boon from her. They also potentially gain two 2pt enemies in Anita and Marc if their involvement is discovered.

* Anita and Marc discover the elaborate plot against them. Both of them are bemused by the whole thing and proceed to sabotage Annabelle's next party in a suitably vulgar way (nude photos of the Primogen on display, a flash mob of strippers, or a sewer truck spraying on all the guests as well as their vehicles being possible). Annabelle is furious and blames the PCs for the events as well as the Anarchs as a whole. They gain her as 3 point enemy that can be bought off only through much grovelling and a major boon from each. The Anarchs have also potentially made a dire enemy in the Toreador Primogen.

* Annabelle arranges for the two mortal lovers of her targets to be Embraced in Gary, Indiana where Kevin Jackson's law doesn't hold sway. Either at the PC's hands or one of her 13th generation acquaintances (making them Thin Bloods). Francis immediately dumps Anita and may drive her to murderous frenzy with his resulting insults about her "enslaving" him. Genevieve has a near total mental breakdown. Both will not survive long if the PCs don't do something but will be very grateful if they can join "their" gang. Anita and Marc may actually start a casual sexual relationship to get over their humiliation. Both will become 2pt enemies if they discover the PCs were involved in their Touchstones' destruction.

* Pointing out the power discrepancies in both their relationships, Anita having her lover as a brainwashed ghoul and Marc keeping the truth of the Kindred world from his lover, actually results in them reluctantly ending both relationships. The experience ends with them actually talking about love as well as loss before sharing blood for the first time. Annabelle is ecstatic and agrees to abide by whatever deal the PCs negotiated out of her. The Anarch Center may now have a new power couple leading them or a potential mother of all breakups depending on what happens next.

[CTPhipps]

Outrunning the Past and A Desperate Rescue

Cast: Andrea Harvey-Staboli, Lianne Miller, Gengis, Maldavis, Damien

Synopsis: An Elder Malkavian dreams of the Beckoning and becomes an object of desire to the Establishment. Only the Anarchs can save her now!

Analysis: Andrea Harvey-Staboli is a middle-aged deeply religious Malkavian who devotes most of her efforts to helping the poor as well as destitute. Given how very rarely does V:TM actually go with the "Friendly Neighborhood Vampire", this is a unique thing to find in the books.

I've always gone with the idea that V:TM vampires are roughly middle of the road in how bad they should be with player preference obviously trumping canon. I tend to favor the idea vampires should be like mafia movies. They're bad people, undoubtedly, but they feel guilt and struggle with their darker natures. Still, they end up making the world a worse place despite their best efforts.

In Andrea's case, she has been having been visions of the Beckoning lately. These include ancient cities, deserts, and a few other hints of where so many of the Camarilla's Elders have gone. Weirdly, according to THE CAMARILLA, the Camarilla isn't necessarily out of contact with those who have been Beckoned. In a great subversion, some of them are just in the Middle East making phone calls back and talking about fighting the Sabbat. I think that kind of defeats the mystery of it, though. Mind you, I suppose Biblical eschatologists never expected there to be cellphones or gift shops around Megiddo.



Seriously, you can lounge around a pool at the site of where the apocalypse is supposed to happen according to Left Behind.

The basic premise of the game is Andrea is seeking the protection of the Anarchs due to the fact she broke the Masquerade a few times and is wanted here. Gengis helpfully informs the Prince about her the moment she arrives, though, and it's a race to get her before the Prince. The adventure sort of assumes that the PCs are going to fail, though, because the next adventure is about neonate Lianna making a ill-advised attempt to rescue her.

A solidly entertaining apocalypse-orientated adventure, though I still am not really feeling the Anarch "feel" completely.

[Twilightspire]

New Adventure

I was inspired by THE CHICAGO FOLIOS to do my own adventure in their style. I hope you enjoy.

Love be an Anarch

Cast: Anita Wainwright, Marc Levensque, Annabelle, Francis [mortal], Maldavis [possibly], and Genevieve McAllister [mortal].

What Happened

Annabelle Triabell is a Kindred who constantly struggles against ennui and one of the ways she does so is engaging in the kind of games that other Elders might find gauche. Reading some Kindred books about the old Toreador Courts of Love in France during the Dark Ages (see the Dark Age Clan Novels) she decides to weave an epic romance story of her own with some unsuspecting Kindred. Rather than weave her charms on any of her peers who actually matter, she's decided to instead "help" Anita Wainwright and Marc Levesque fall in love. The fact they are two of the most important Anarchs in Chicago mean that they will owe her (in Annabelle's mind at least) if it succeeds and might tear apart the Anarch Center if it doesn't.

There is the slight problem that both Anita Wainwright and Marc Levesque are both: A:] Already in relationships with their mortal Touchstones. B:] In mourning over their past loves. C:] Coworkers in the Movement who have not displayed any romantic interest in one another. Annabelle's Auspex isn't entirely off the mark, though, as she senses the spark of something that could be ignited but could very easily lead to something much worse among the volatile Brujah.

As such, Annabelle approaches the PCs to act as her Shakespearean co-conspirators in trying to arrange for the two to have eros bloom between the two. Annabelle promises to reward them if they help and is very good at framing it as a good thing for both of them. She will even help the Anarch cause if necessary and potentially blackmails Maldavis to serve as her mouthpiece in this if the PCs are unwilling to listen to any Camarilla elder.

Annabelle has suggestions that sound like something out of a badly written romance novel ranging from breaking up the vampires with their love interests, endangering one to let the other come to the rescue, or sending them in to plant the seeds in the minds of either [voluntarily or not]. Annabelle is the kind of woman who thinks Tremere love potions are a viable option so PCs should try to reign her in if possible.

With some effort, the PCs discover that neither Anita or Marc's mortal love interests are entirely happy with their arrangements. Francis believes [correctly] he's just a substitute for Anita's sire, Theodore Dooley, and is only remaining with her because of the Blood Bond. Even under its influence, his love for his regent isn't romantic anymore and he just wants the Embrace. Genevieve believes Marc is also using her as a substitute for a coworker he's occasionally mentioned and will create a scene if she ever meets Anita as they do have an uncanny similarity in both looks as well as temperament. She's unaware Marc is a vampire, though, and would be horrified if it was proven to her.

What Could Happen

* Events turn out horrific as Annabelle arranges for Francis to kill Genevieve on the grounds of her being a Second Inquisition spy [she's not], Marc kills Francis in a retaliatory frenzy, and Anita vows to kill him in return. The Anarch Center immediately splits down sectarian lines with several Anarchs killed in the resulting feud, possibly including both Anita and Marc. Annabelle is disappointed with the results in romantic terms but quite pleased in practical ones. They gain a 3 point Malwa in the Primogen and a major boon from her. They also potentially gain two 2pt enemies in Anita and Marc if their involvement is discovered.

* Anita and Marc discover the elaborate plot against them. Both of them are bemused by the whole thing and proceed to sabotage Annabelle's next party in a suitably vulgar way (nude photos of the Primogen on display, a flash mob of strippers, or a sewer truck spraying on all the guests as well as their vehicles being possible). Annabelle is furious and blames the PCs for the events as well as the Anarchs as a whole. They gain her as 3 point enemy that can be bought off only through much grovelling and a major boon from each. The Anarchs have also potentially made a dire enemy in the Toreador Primogen.

* Annabelle arranges for the two mortal lovers of her targets to be Embraced in Gary, Indiana where Kevin Jackson's law doesn't hold sway. Either at the PC's hands or one of her 13th generation acquaintances (making them Thin Bloods). Francis immediately dumps Anita and may drive her to murderous frenzy with his resulting insults about her "enslaving" him. Genivieve has a near total mental breakdown. Both will not survive long if the PCs don't do something but will be very grateful if they can join "their" gang. Anita and Marc may actually start a casual sexual relationship to get over their humiliation. Both will become 2pt enemies if they discover the PCs were involved in their Touchstone's destruction.

* Pointing out the power discrepancies in both their relationships, Anita having her lover as a brainwashed ghoul and Marc keeping the truth of the Kindred world from his lover, actually results in them reluctantly ending both relationships. The experience ends with them actually talking about love as well as loss before sharing blood for the first time. Annabelle is ecstatic and agrees to abide by whatever deal the PCs negotiated out of her. The Anarch Center may now have a new power couple leading them or a potential mother of all breakups depending on what happens next.

I actually really love this idea for a story. It should be a lot of fun and I may adapt it for my Chronicle in New Orleans. Thank you for sharing it!

[CTPhipps]

I actually really love this idea for a story. It should be a lot of fun and I may adapt it for my Chronicle in New Orleans. Thank you for sharing it!

Awesome. Glad you enjoyed it.

I always love these kind of oddball adventures like the similar one in Dragon Age 2.

[CTPhipps]

Flowers in the Garden, The Lilies, and Words from the Blood

Cast: Doctor Benway, The Fury, Maldavis, Edith Beaubien

Synopsis: The player characters investigate a Bahari cult that is closely aligned with Anarch ideals.

Analysis: I have mixed feelings about the Bahari and Lilith in general throughout V:TM lore. I'm going to be honest that I'm a Church of Caine man, through and through. However, I'm going to give a lot of props for this section because it's exactly what I did for one of my games. I made a Church of Caine offshoot that was Anarch aligned. Here, they've done the same thing with the Bahari. One of the ghouls of Edith Beaubien has been Embraced as a Tremere (sadly by a new character) and has started her own Anarch-themed Lilith cult.

It's interesting to note that "The Fury" is uninterested in returning to her mistress and has set up her Lilith cult entirely on her own. The Lilies have a feminist-themed Lilith cult (which is not something that necessarily 100% is to be automatically assumed), saying the Camarilla was founded by two corrupt men in Rafael and Hardestadt.

They also misspell Rafael as Raphael but that's just me nitpicking.

That's a bit mean to Adana de Sfrorza, Camailla Banes, and Mistress Fanchon but The Fury is a ghoul so I'm honestly surprised she knows that much. I'm 90% the vast majority of Anarchs are unaware the Movement even existed before Modern Times since I don't get the impression that they were particularly well-educated beyond Gangrel loresingers and the Followers of Set that have recently joined their sect.

It's interesting to note that The Lilies are actually the THIRD Lilith cult in Chicago. There's Edith and the Garden, which are some old school monster Lilith worshipers that are probably the closest to their evil mistress. Nerissa Blackwater is probably one of the Drowned rather than descended from a conventional Clan but it's equally possible she's a descendant of Lilith's brood from when she's a 2nd Generation (assuming she and the Crone are one in the same) depending onm how you interpret the Book of Nod. She might also be a Gangrel because, honestly, they got around. However, there's also the Blood Disco and the House of Lilith that worship her with MUSIC rather than being an asshole. I also consider the House of Lilith to be an Anarch cult so it's interesting to note just how much the resistance to the Cult of Caine is around this area.

This adventure is related to the Beckoning, again and I'm honestly wondering if this was meant to be a kind of campaign. I don't really associate the Anarchs with the Beckoning but so far we've got no less than five adventure hooks that are related to the summoning of Elders to the Middle East in some form or capacity out of five. I'm not complaining, they're all great adventures but I'm wondering if the writer was just a fan of the concept or if this was meant to be part of a sequential series of adventures related to some grand climax that incorporates both the Anarchs as well as the Elders fleeing East.

Really, though, I don't think the adventure needs more than to show the existence of the Lilies to have a bunch of interesting adventure hooks. Here's some ones that came to me while reading about them:

* Kevin Jackson wants to show himself to be an proper Camarilla Prince and wants the Lilies stomped out. He's a Prince of the Future and loathes "Medieval superstition." The Fury being an illegal Embrace (not to mention an Anarch) causes him to seek out a Blood Hunt against her. Other Camarilla Elders are iffier about going after anyone who might have lore about the Beckoning and Lilith.
* A group of orthodox Bahari are pissed off at this Anarch-themed corruption of their religion and plan to exterminate both the Lilies as well as the Blood Disco. Edith is torn because she views them as misguided rather than wrong as well as has a longstanding affection for her former ghoul. Plus the idea of an orthodox Lilith cult seems like it's missing the point to her anyway.
* Maldavis converts to the Lilies religion and has a kind of existential vision that gives her immunity to Helena's domination as well as tells her of Nerissa as a weapon against her. She's regained her former fire but it's now religious in nature.
* The Church of Cain priest, Arden, is interested in the Lilies religion. Weirdly, not to stamp it out but hold some debates as well as ecumenical discussion of Noddist lore. It is appalling to both sides' followers.
* The Blood Disco and Lilies are prepared to join together, which actually would make it the most powerful Anarch faction in the city instead of the Anarch Center. Enough so that it would potentially make Chicago a religious ruled theocracy if they moved against Jackson-albeit a very fun one.

[CTPhipps]

New Adventure

I had another Anarch themed adventure idea.

On the Way to Ford's Theater

Cast: Balthazar, Sweetie Pepper, Gengis, Nathaniel Bordruff, and Kevin Jackson

Synopsis: An assassination plot against Kevin Jackson is underway, or is it?

What Happened

The new version of the Nihilists gang is both the most reactionary as well as most secretive of the Anarchs in Chicago. So much so that one of its members, Balthazar, is still believed to be a Camarilla supporter by the majority of Chicago's Kindred. The four of them are all Low Humanity vampires that have little regard for human life (and precious little for Kindred life for that matter).

Up until this point, their plans have mostly been against property and talk despite their status as a collection of cold-blooded killers. They may have even eliminated a few vampires but only outside of Chicago proper and within the bounds of acceptable justifications. Balthazar, in particular, knows how to frame a killing as justified whether he's hated by the Prince or not.

During one of their clandestine meetings, though, Kevin Jackson came up and Balthazar went into a lengthy tirade against his "injustices." That was when Nathaniel Bordruff shared that they knew when and where he would be next week. Sweetie Pepper also pointed out that he'd come into possession of some explosives and recruited some people who knew how to use them. What started as a shared rant soon turned into a serious plot against the Prince's life. One that Gengis immediately made plans to inform on his fellows about. He was, after all, the Prince's snitch among the Anarchs.

The problem was the other Nihilists are much-much smarter than Gengis.

None of the other three members has ever really trusted Gengis (or each other) but they are well aware of the ability to smell a rat. All three of them have had Gengis' measure more or less from the get go and have been excluding him from any of their more sensitive meetings. The conversation Gengis overheard was staged for his benefit and they had events prepped so that he would be implicated in their plot. Nathaniel even sabotaged Gengis' cellphone and disconnected the number he usually called the Prince at in order to inform on HIM first.

Gengis is now panicked as the Prince has received actionable intelligence on his snitch from multiple sources as well as an orgy of evidence, Witnesses have been dominated into believing he bought the explosives, was seen planting them, and also talking about his plan to kill the Prince. The Nihilists believe that if they frame Gengis that he will reduce heat around themselves so they can carry out their own assassination attempt against Kevin Jackson later.

Gengis figured out he was set up faster than the Prince's goons have started to investigate so he needs friends, or enemies, willing to listen to his story about being framed.

What Could Happen

* Gengis begs the characters to help him and promises them whatever he can: riches, membership on the List, and other things to get in contact with the Prince on his behalf. This proves to be surprisingly easy as Kevin Jackson is not so stupid to believe he was planning on assassinating him. However, the action results in Gengis being revealed as a snitch by the Nihilists who then proceed to leverage it as a victory for the Anarchs. Gengis is exiled from their ranks and loses all status with them. Worse, the Nihilists are now publicly known resistance to the Prince, though most of the old guard refuse to forgive or trust Balthazar. Gengis becomes a 1-dot Ally but terminally depressed.

* The PCs turn Gengis over to the Prince who reluctantly extracts all of the secrets of the Nihilists from his snitch via torture. Gengis is left for the Sun due to his sheer stupidity and to make an example out of a "disloyal" citizen. The PCs are then asked by Kevin Jackson to infiltrate the Nihilists in Gengis' stead, gaining the Prince as a Malwa. They also gain the 2pt enemy flaw as the Anarch Center believes them to be the Prince's toadies and Gengis to be a martyr. Perceptive players may also note that working for the Prince didn't work out well for Gengis.

* The player characters can turn Gengis over to the other Nihilists who are surprised at their actions but accepting. Gengis is disposed of in a way that makes it look like he's left town and the Nihilists invite them to join in on their plot to kill Jackson. It actually fails but ends up killing one of Jackson's top lieutenants, weakening the Prince and causing him to crack down on the Anarchs even harder. That results in more coming around to the Nihilists' side. The player characters get 3 dots in Allies from the Nihilists and potentially a 3pt enemy from the Prince if he figures out their involvement.

* The player characters can convince Gengis to come clean to his other Anarchs (for some value of clean) where he explains that he was working with the Nihilists only to be horrified at their extremism. He'll completely blame Balthazar and cast them all as a bunch of wannabe Camarilla Princes. While Gengis will take a hit to his prestige, it won't be terminal and he'll be able to make up for it by convincing them to all work together to bring down the Nihilists. Kevin Jackson will declare a Blood Hunt against all three (or at least Balthazar) and the PCs will make 3pt in enemies from them. They will also gain a point of status with the Anarchs as well as Gengis' eternal gratitude.

* The PCs can dispose of the evidence against Gengis and silence a few of the Dominated witnesses against him. They can then blackmail him into compliance with a Life Boon. From now on, Gengis will actually work for them instead of the Prince or the Anarchs. He's so afraid of the Nihilists and the Prince that he actually is okay with this.