#vtm 5e

[golcorneta]

So sad no one understand Latinamerican memes

[terman]

My characters deserve to have cool illustration, so here's art for my Nosferatu from 5e

[sunandmoonkb]

"Which nation is the rainbow flag hanging from the window for?"

"Well, its a pride flag?"

"pride?"

"yes, its for people like us..."

"Cainites?"

"no... uh..."

"oh!"

Arvo Korpi of Clan Tzimisce. Loyal follower of Mithras. Lost in the modern day, but keen to catch up.

[dr-mingus]

I'm fairly new so I don't know if this stuff is already the accepted perspective among VtM players, but it seems to me that a Vampire's essence is contained within their Vitae, while the body it inhabits merely acts as a vessel for it. Rather than the corpse being "brought back to life" by the blood, the corpse is a host through which the Vitae acts its will upon the world.

Here's how I think it works, feel free to correct me:

Kindred Vitae has two basic instincts that drive its behavior: to preserve itself, and to produce more of itself. These manifest in the host as the desire to consume blood, and the desire to Embrace.

During the Embrace, a Kindred drains all blood from a mortal. This Kindred, the Sire, introduces a small amount of their Vitae into the mortal's corpse which then finds its way into its brainstem. It acts to enable motor and sensory function, but lacks sufficient Vitae to sustain the entire host body. To remedy this, it attempts to source blood from the nearest available source, causing what is known as a Hunger Frenzy.

Once blood is consumed, it makes contact with the Sire's original Vitae. It then becomes Vitae through its capacity to transmute mundane blood into more of itself. It is possible that this is achieved through a property that makes it impossible to dilute, ironically similar to that of Holy Water.

Vitae then spreads throughout the host to facilitate biological processes necessary to achieving the instinctual goals. It interacts with the host body, preventing decay but also reshaping certain tissues and organs to better function as instruments of the goals. Teeth become sharpened fangs, the stomach reshapes to allow blood directly into the circulatory system, taste buds and neurotransmitters are altered to incentivise consuming blood, etc. It also flows into the rest of the brain, where the personality and memories of the host imprint into it through its presence in the memory centres.

In the event of a threat to the Vitae's survival, such as sunlight or fire, it exhibits a response similar to the human body's response to extreme cold. To avoid loss of heat, the body concentrates warm blood in the safest and most important areas, the torso and head, leaving the extremities cold. In the case of Vitae, blood leaves the anterior of the brain and limbs, and concentrates in the amygdala and brainstem. This causes the distinctive Fear Frenzy or Rötschreck in the host as the Vitae spurs the host to flee to preserve itself.

Through unknown means, Vitae is consumed by sustaining the body or by the manifestation of Powers of the Blood. In an attempt to restore itself, it increases the host's desire to feed. In extremis it forces the host to forgo rational action in a bid to sate its primal needs. This may occur any time a Kindred exerts themselves.

Variations in Kindred Clans are possibly the result of the original "Antediluvians" whose willpower and mastery of their own Vitae were such that remnants of their personalities and powers remain in their blood and are passed down to their descendants to this day. In a similar vein, the Anger Frenzy may be a remnant of the original Kindred "Caine" whose own rage could have been passed down to all Cainites due to his immense power and will.

Fully draining a Kindred, or Diablerie, extracts the Vitae dwelling in the Brainstem which has taken on the most significant imprint of the host. This causes a conflict within the Diablerist , as two different personality imprints vie for control of the same body. Eventually the more willful memory imprint wins out and takes full control of the host.

Fin

This was a fun bit of creative writing, and has given me some ideas for more stuff about how disciplines and other vampiric traits work.

I might do some more of this stuff if people like it, or if I get bored.

Thanks for reading!

[tetanusvaccineofficial]

canon selfie my social media influencer Toreador, Juno, took like a year BEFORE his death/embrace

the reality of being a vampire does not live up to his expectations. he's especially not pleased that he died in his Denny's uniform, or that he's accidentally committed murder

(due to having a grand total of three willpower, this pathetic guyfailure autofails most hunger frenzy checks, apparently!) (he also has stigmata!)

[caffeinesystem]

A creature and her creature

[elliest-ellie]

My VTM players have not been letting me rest for saying "alcohol shop" instead of "liquor store" which is probably the least human way of saying that

[chaotic-leopard]

Isn't it exciting to be the bad guy?

Well, this is what Vampire the Masquerade is about! You are the villain, a parasite sustaining itself on the life of humans around you.

I think this is why I dropped L.A. by Night; the story was cool, but the longer it went on, the main characters appeared less and less as monsters, and more as humans with superpowers.

This brings me to the session I played yesterday (@comfyhell was our Storyteller). It was full of certified banger moments, one after another. You know why? Because it challenged the humanity of the monsters we play as (and because there was a lot of player interaction, there is a lively world and other things, but shhhhh).

Doing all that was fun, but I was morally hung over.

It was fun because it is exciting to just let yourself go wild, to do fucked up shit and face no consequences in a game, where no real people are hurt.

I was morally hung over because I still played the part. For a few hours, I was a smug motherfucker that only cares about himself, and will not back off even from something horrendous.

↓ For the detailed description of what happened, take a peek below the fold ↓

CW: fucked up shit that happened during the session below. Bodily harm, manipulation, gaslighting and more.

We found an old Sabbat crypt. While we were trying to get through it, we encountered a hostile ghost that blocked our path. Turns out we knew the ghost – we've seen a photo of that man!

A few nights before, we found a body of a girl missing a whole arm, killed by someone trying to open the crypt. She had a few photos of her family members in her wallet, and the ghost is her grandpa. He disappeared around 40 years ago, never to be found again.

Luckily, we encountered a Hecata that was willing to help us get rid of that ghost. To do that, we'd need someone from the ghost's family.

So we go to the bar that the guy is operating, and we tell him we found her. We get him under our discipline powers to follow us underground.

At first, everything was going smooth, but this was only the human part of the world under the city, the usual sewer and water infrastructure. But the moment we stepped towards the crypt entrance, our spells broke.

He started screaming and tried to run. So we had to drag him inwards, while he tried his best to escape, clawing at anything, losing nails, and screaming so much, his voice gave out, and he could only grunt intelligibly, broken by the nature of that place.

When we arrived at the place, he was already beyond saving. The madness had overtaken him, he was weak and voiceless, but he still tried to get away in any way possible. We didn't let him. We restrained him and watched him suffer while the Hecata did a ritual inviting the ghost to possess his body.

After that happened, we just killed him, getting rid of the ghost.

And my charming Toreador (named Max) was totally okay with it! He didn't even flinch. You know why? Because he is an evil being. The Sheriff ordered him to explore the damned place, so he was going to do that. After all, this was only a mortal. His life means nothing.

This wasn't even the only fucked up thing he did that night!

The night before, he noticed that his usual fan club was missing one person – Lena. She is his favorite one and has been missing for a week already. So he decided to go meet her.

Knocking at the door of her flat, he felt this was going to be difficult. She opened and tried to cut the conversation short: she's going back to her husband.

But my Toreador can also be scary. He used his powers on her to get her to back off and get into her home. And she wasn't lying! Max noticed partly unpacked boxes, the husband's things, a photo of them together.

Sensing, that he can't just keep her tethered to him with his powers only, so he decided to change direction. He told her that she was happy with him, and if she changed her mind, she knew where she could find him.

Then, the next night, he found her husband in a bar. The man wanted to confront him, and Max did his best to get him as angry as possible. He lied to him that he visited his wife and implied that they had sex.

After that, he mocked him, threatened to hurt him and scared him away. The husband stormed out of the bar, humiliated and angry. You can probably see where it leads.

A few hours later, while at the club, one of the employees comes to Max to notify him that Lena is here. The husband has beaten her heavily and she ran away. Max gave a great show of care and help and ordered someone to get her to his home. But inside, he was just happy to get his toy back.

[faeric-ephemerality]

So, I think after reading some of the books, I personally don’t see the Second Inquisition getting off the ground by the events of V5. While one could argue that the timeline allows for it, plus vampires are usually entrenched in their own affairs, nothing can live for that long be so deeply involved in civilization as to not be completely unaware of the goings on in the world around them. It is truly difficult to think vampires wouldn’t have a several spies keeping an eye on people who’d be looking into things they weren’t supposed to. That goes double for the other splats that aren’t wraiths or mummies. The fera and mages are still living beings, meaning it’d be far easier to pass by undetected without more in-depth tests, not mention kinfolk or acolytes of mages. Considering how the SI is, I doubt all of them would take kindly to even the Technocracy.

So with all that being said, I do feel like people cracking into ShreckNet wouldn’t lead to a lot of people being dismissed as crackpots. Or, y’know, had their memories messed with. Heck, we already know Mithras manipulated many in the Camarilla, the Sabbat, and the SI which led to the events of the London’s kindred being wiped out. Which leads me to wonder how many of the efforts of SI haven’t been appropriated by the supernatural. How many have been “supplied” by Pentex and unwittingly twisted by the corruptive elements into Fomori, for example?

Lastly, and this one sticks out to me, is the human element. We already know the different departments, cells, and orgs tend to keep their cards close and follow individual agendas. This already limits the full effectiveness even with humanity outnumbering the supernatural denizens. But even then, it also fails to consider the people in the upper and lower echelons who would seek to preserve the mystical for their own purposes. Those who’ve forged alliances with kindred and haven’t been ghouled or dominated, and can make those who step too close to their partners disappear. Those who are aware of the fera and their purpose, who wage business wars against Pentex or have their own agents dealing with the forces of the triat. Not to mention the rare few who have loved ones or friends, who’d protect them at all costs no matter who or what they are. The Second Inquisition may span the globe, but that only means it’s in everyone’s crosshairs too

[carminesleepz]

He’s ugly and I hate him

[jasina85]

Alright, finished reading In Memoriam. Walking away from it with a very mixed opinion.

Ancilae creation rules are fine. Nothing there to blow my socks off, but it really drives the point of how slowly the V5 design team wants vampires to grow their disciplines vs the pace it actually happens at at the table (unless your ST cracks down hard on the amount of XP you get per session I guess). The new merits and flaws are also fine EXCEPT Custodian of History.

Custodian of History can go fuck itself and I'm never allowing it at my table. Why? Because as written, it's a 1-dot indulgence you're supposed to buy to be able to READ UP ON (you as in you - the player, not the character) on a particular topic from kindred history, have your character be able to form an opinion about said period, or generally tie them to the metaplot. So it's basically a tax you're supposed to pay for daring to want to connect your character to a topic/time period EVEN THOUGH loresheets cover this aspect just fine.

Idk who proof-read and approved this, but I was never so upset about a merit

Onto the spotlighting of events from kindred history and... well, if you wanted to run Victorian era game, for example, I think this book is not gonna help you a whole lot. It paints in very broad strokes so yeah... You're better off adapting stuff from the actual Victorian Age Vampire book. Also don't expect anything farther back than the 1700s. Having said that, two of the events it spotlights caught my attention.

The Trail of Mirrors! When Kementiri arranged her capture by the Camarilla only to fuck with them. Look, it's Kementiri shenanigans, what more do I need to say? It's hilarious when a terrifying methuselah makes it feel like a Scooby Doo episode.

The second are the Blood Hunts of Prague. The most outstanding issue I have here is the writers referring to "Old Clan Tzimisce" as though they were still a distinct bloodline (which in V5 they are pointedly not) and even then, they're using it wrong, because they're referring to Shaagra who has Vicissitude and therefore can't be of the Old Clan line. Anyway, my obligatory Tzimisce rant over.

Now, the good stuff! I personally loved the chapter about the psychology and humanity struggles of the ancilae. The book introduces a concept of Desolation - basically a vampire mid-life crisis where they're accustomed to being undead, but all their touchstones are already dying of old age. It talks about transferring convictions and how it can alter the relationship with touchstones or even warp it. I think it's a brilliant concept.

Expanded Memoriam rules - honestly, I have no opinion there, I've never used the regular ones, and while it's a cool concept on paper, I'm not sure how to properly implement it in play. Your milage may vary.

Loresheets! Look, they gave me a Dracula loresheet, it's very good, very thematic, I'm happy. The rest are fine? They introduce this organization called the Order of the Repentant, but there's barely any detail about them.

The section about considerate play in historical settings doesn't really say anything that's not been said in the normal considerate play section.

Overall, not bad, not amazing, In Memoriam is, in my opinion, just fine. It's an okay supplement.

[golcorneta]

This happened on the 1st session. Allan and Haorán (@damasc-x OC) where in the harbor and a man came out from the water, we baptised him as Froggy boy at first. This NPC was ugly (even uglier if we think Allan is Stunning), with shreded skin and a smell of humid ground and probably rotten fish, Allan unfortunatly, saw something else, and tried to seduce this man. There were indeed plenty pretty characters, but Allan got captivared by the ugly one.

As a fun fact, the first time I draw this NPC it resulted into a extremly handsome man, as an explanation for this we made the headcanon that Allan sees people with a whole different perspective, recreating faces. For this reason, he saw a handsome froggy boy instead of a cadaveric rotten man, and the same happends with his Mawla; Daxia.

Allan is a total Caitiff at this point. Has the distorsioned reality of a Malkavian, the patience of a Brujah, the "pride" of a Ventrue and the behavior of a Toreador sometimes.

As another fun fact: I play with the ST patience every time I draw him as a total model

AND as an even funier fun fact. This NPC is a redesign, the original character is irrelevant and even uglier. So our ST decided to transform him into a whole different character.

The character was Zygaena

[terman]

More shitpost with Zara

[sunandmoonkb]

The court of London has a problem on its hands. The heralds of Mithras are back, and with them, they bring the threat of more interesting times.

featuring:

London's most diabolical twink, Arvo Korpi. A recollector of art, Laurence Amhurst. A very real and honest priest, Julian Hartwood. The man with a dog tougher than the coterie, William O'Loughton. The walking abacus, Mason Locke.

[dr-mingus]

I was just thinking about how the embrace in VtM works differently than it does in What We Do in the Shadows, because in the latter a person becomes a vampire by having some (but not all) of their blood removed and then the vampire's Blood is imbibed. Notably the Blood they consume is not directly from the vampire at the time, merely blood from earlier kept in a container.

The embrace in VtM however requires the Mortal to be drained completely before any Blood is put back in them, at which point the vampire's Blood is introduced. My headcannon is that the Blood that the vampire uses to embrace the mortal is a mix of the sire's own Heartsblood and the mortal's own Blood, which then becomes the fledgling's Heartsblood. The effect is the decline in generation the embrace causes, as the sire's Blood is diluted by the Mortal's.

The sire's own Blood is, of course, the grandsire's Blood diluted with their own, and so on and so on until the first generation's undiluted blood.

It occurred to me because in wwdits the person who gets turned gets sucked on, but not drained, which implies some level of transformative power of the bite that doesn't seem implied by VtM.

[diceyclipse]

Carnival - A d10 set for Vampire: The Masquerade, sold during the last restock. I really like palette-style sets, where each die is unique, but the whole is harmonious. And you ?