Vampire: The Requiem

[Grey]

October, 2013


London is yours.


Since the Master and his three bride-daughters founded it so long ago, the Ordo Dracul has held the city in its corpse-grip, and little happens - from East London to the houses of Parliament - that the Order of the Dragon hath not a hand in.


Not that temporal matters are truly relevant; merely facilitators of The Great Work.


You are Kindred; a vampire, and thus a slave to your blood-thirst, fearful of the sun, and ever-maddened by the Beast within. You are also a Dragon of the Order, and that means overcoming these pitiful weaknesses through arcane science. To understand, then transcend the vampiric condition is the only true goal. Controlling the Metropolitan Police, enthralling government ministers, running businesses from back rooms - all to protect the Order, and allow members like you to practice in peace.


Now all is not well in what many of your fellows consider still to be the greatest city in the world - barbarians of the Circle of the Crone test our defences from without, and the Carthians sow dissent within, all while forced into diplomatic ties with the Conspiracy of Silence and those deluded zealots of the Lancea et Sanctum.


And a parliament of owls shrieks in the night.


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Vampire:: The Requiem, 2nd Edition.


Newbs welcome.


All Ordo Dracul, all the time.


Run any Bloodlines or custom content by me first.


@Alexandra @Cthulhu_Wakes @Atom

 

[Bardiel]

"Conspiracy of Silence" - Is that a reference to the Invictus?

 

[Grey]

Yes indeed.

 

[Bardiel]

Are the players to be in a Coterie or "independent"?

 

[Grey]

You will be gathered into a Coterie, and as members of the Ordo you should know of each other to begin with.


I'll also allow for one or two more experienced players to take Ancillae while newbies play Neonates, perhaps proteges to them.

 

[Lord-Leafar]

Count me interested, I have never played Vampire: Requiem but I do have the books and been looking to learn the system.

 

[SephirothSage]

I would be interested indeed- I'd be happy to play an Ancillae or a Neonate, either way is fine by me; I'm an old hand to Vampire, if somewhat new to the changes made in Requiem.

 

[Atom]

Any specific books I should pull from my folder other than the main vampire book?

 

[Grey]

The Ordo Covenant book and any Clan Book you fancy, Atom.


Hrm.


The Requiem changes are huge, Seph. But we'll see who signs up - maybe @Bardiel and @Alexandra will want in.

 

[Bardiel]

I'm interested. No real idea at the 2nd Ed changes. Ordo do seem interesting.

 

[SephirothSage]

I noticed that, aye. Not sure if I like all the changes- (GIVE ME BACK MY TREMERE YOU BASTARDS) - but most of them seem quite balanced and reasonable. I like the Ordo Dracul stuff I've seen, so hey.

 

[Alexandra]

I have been wanting to play a Khaibit bodyguard for a while now.....

 

[Lord-Leafar]

I know that the Clan books and the covenant books are still compatible with the second edition, but are there any that are not?

 

[Grey]

I can't think of any, but we'll deal with anything troublesome as it comes up.

 

[Lord-Leafar]

Anything in particular you're looking for in the sense of characters? Any house rules or restrictions we should know about?

 

[Grey]

Nothing not listed in the original post. All I ask if that you're Ordo Dracul and nominally loyal.

 

[Crocodile]

I am interested.

 

[Lord-Leafar]

I'm leaning towards a Gangrel vamp, probably will invest in a dot or two on Mysteries of the Wyrm for some frenzy goodness.

 

[Crocodile]

I'm a sucker for Ventrue and Mekhet, probably an influence monger of some sort. Mysteries of Ascendent and Voivode interest me quite a bit.

 

[Grey]

Promising so far.

 

[Lord-Leafar]

Hey @Grey, how many players are you looking for for this campaign?

 

[Grey]

Much over six would get a bit ridiculous. A minimum of four would be nice.


As usual I tend not to move forward until I see some concepts in the interest check.

 

[Bardiel]

You mean to post it here? Is it V2.0 chargen?

 

[Grey]

V 2.0 for sure. Please do post at least a concept here, so I have a feel for what you want and how much you can be relied on to post.

 

[Lord-Leafar]

Alright, I usually have time to check the forums once a day, although realistically it's more likely for me to have 3 or 4 good posting days per week, but I'm certain I'll be able to post weekly at the very least.


I have two concepts running in my mind, can't really decide yet as I'm not entirely sure what will the campaign focus on, so here's the first one, apologies for the long text, I'm not much of a writer so sorry for the bad writing:

Spoiler

Nicholas was born in England, son of a Polish/Russian immigrant couple living in London. Like many boys at a young age he was fascinated by animals, and fantasized about becoming a famous animal expert or perhaps a veterinary doctor. Unfortunately for him, his family did not have the economic means to guide him towards the education he needed to pursue his goals, that situation coupled with a tough economic situation, prompted Nicholas to get a job as soon as he had finished his compulsory education. Thanks to a favor through a family friend, Nicholas landed a training job at the Environmental Health Department of the City of London, specifically in the department of Pest Control. Nicholas completed his training, got the necessary certifications to work as an Exterminator, and secured himself a full time job, giving him and his family a much needed extra income, despite his dislike for the job itself.


A couple of years passed, and despite Nicholas' wishes he developed an uncommon appreciation for vermin through his natural interest for animals, which made his job harder when he had to exterminate the poor creatures, this in turn made Nicholas slowly but surely dislike his job even more to the point of hating it. And as fate would have it, life had a few punches waiting for Nicholas, his father got convicted of a crime that involved him and some russian mobsters and sent to jail when he was 19 years old, while her mother was diagnosed with lung cancer by the time he was 24 years. The stress of the situation forced Nicholas to search for extra sources of cash to help his mother with her treatment. In order to do this he began a series of crimes within his own job to get some extra money, he started enacting little thefts at the establishments and homes where he would be assigned for inspection, this slowly escalated into faking reports of rat infestations at restaurants or food establishments, in order to force the owners to bribe the health inspector (himself), and even going as far as breaking into these places to plant a few animals to give credibility to the complaints. This worked out for Nicholas seemingly well, and was able to help his mother with her treatment.


At the hospital where his mother was treated, he met a nurse with whom he struck a deep friendship. Months passed and his mother's condition worsened, and despite all efforts she passed away. This drove Nicholas to a severe depression, pushing him to overwork himself and straining the environment at his work, his unethical actions eventually causing him to lose his job. In severe anger, he aimed to end it all. He walked to the London Bridge on a quiet night and was about to jump when something stopped him, a dark presence surrounded him and despite his intention to end his life, he began to panic, fearing the darkness and the abyss beneath him, at that moment claws held him immobile and he witnessed the abomination that had clung to him, he shouted yet no one could hear him, a few people passed by yet no one could see him nor the monster holding him, and as he drained his life with a vicious bite on his neck, he blacked out.


Nicholas woke up in a dark room, lit only by a single bulb hanging at the top of the ceiling. Had he dreamed of the events at the bridge, he was not sure nor he could remember anything beyond the nightmarish scenario that occurred. In an effort to find where he was, a newspaper page laying on the floor caught his attention. He picked it up and fear crawled up his skin as he read the details of his disappearance, continuing onto a search for his body after a presumed suicide. At that moment the bulb's light flickered, and behind him was the same horrific creature that he had seen at the bridge, he backed up in fear only to freeze with true terror at the realization that what he was seeing was nothing else but his own reflection in a mirror, once again no one could hear him scream.


As he laid broken and overcome with a maddening hunger, his Sire presented himself to feed him with live rats. Nicholas shocked himself by draining the animals dry, his mind regaining control as the Vampire spoke to him, explaining him his condition and the circumstances of his new life. And so Nicholas began his life as a vampire.


It was initially hard for him to deal with what had happened, and he struggled for the first few weeks as he slowly accepted his new situation. In doing so, a bitter anger grew up inside him as he recalled his previous life, in a weird twisted way, this was just what he needed, an opportunity to take back what life did not provide, and with this newfound feelings he began training under the tutelage of his Sire.


Years passed, and Nicholas came to learn more about himself and the world of vampires he had now access to. Tempted by the lore of the Ordo Dracul the young vampire followed in his Sire's footsteps, convinced that within the Coils the secret to the Clan's curse lay hidden. Yet Nicholas had not been able to forget his old life completely, the nurse that took care of his mother in her final days had made a huge impact in Nicholas, so he tracks her and spies on her from time to time, the sight of her lighting up a warm flame in the darkness of his soul.


TLR: Former pest control exterminator, had a shitty life and was turned into a Nosferatu as he was trying to commit suicide. Now he sees this as an opportunity to take in death what he was denied in life.