| Possible themes and story hooks | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sep 8 2013, 04:13 PM (154 Views) | |
| Psyche_Dreamweaver | Sep 8 2013, 04:13 PM Post #1 |
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A good question to ask yourself when making your character is this: What is my character doing here? Are they a native, or at least a long-term resident? Or have they come to Asheville only recently. If they've newly arrived, what drew them there, and what do they plan to do once they've established themselves? Some possible themes (or motives, if you prefer) players are free to make use of: Re-emergence Its probable that a large number of Kindred who survived Gehenna have been laying low since the Withering ended- either from fear that the phenomenon would begin anew and wipe the rest of them out, or that mortals (Hunters, specifically) would take the tapes of Camarilla members who'd `come out' (these, like the footage of the Tzimisce antediluvian, were confiscated by the government and quickly suppressed) at face value and be driven to track down the remaining vampires and finish what Gehenna started. Nine years would've been considered virtually a blink of the eye for the elder Kindred, but the majority of them suffered Final Death during the Withering. And for the younger vampires who remain, almost a decade is long enough to tentatively assume it might be safe to operate in a more overt manner- at least outside of the largest cities. Vampires who *have* spent those years in hiding might not have even had any contact with other Kindred at all and might be completely ignorant to the post-Gehenna changes that were wrought in their kind, and after finally deeming it safe to come out, are only now emerging back into the night to see what (if anything) of their former society remains. Recruitment All vampire clans/bloodlines who came out on the other side of Gehenna suffered staggering losses in their population during the Withering, and even clans who retained the largest portion of survivors (Toreador, Brujah, Gangrel) are still at a fraction of their former numbers. Members of any surviving clan might feel compelled to start adding to their ranks again now that the Withering and cannibalistic Antediluvians are no longer a concern, but Kindred belonging to bloodlines who suffered the greatest reduction in their populations might be even more frantic to start replacing their lost kin (Lasombra, Tzimisce, Tremere). Ironically, the destruction of the Camarilla and Sabbat (as organized factions; individual members of both sects clearly survived), could make recruitment of new vampires all the more easy...as there are no longer any Princes or other elders in power to forbid the creation of new vampires *or* punish those who might choose to sire with impunity. Kindred have always been good at competing with one another, so surviving vampires might now be even more driven to compete for territory, influence, and even potential childer. Redemption Despite signs of still-lingering divine punishment (their inability to sire new vampires that are automatically members of their clan, the harsh flaws vampires who allow themselves to sink too deeply into the bestial side of their nature develop), the fact that their Post-Gehenna childer who fully inherited their sire's lineage *do* breed true when allowed to Embrace could give even the most fatalistic survivor of Gehenna some hope for their line's future (which could in turn tie in to the recruitment theme). Other vampires might regard the traits Kindred who cling more tightly to their humanity now develop as a sign of potential grace- of a chance to remain Kindred but be a less monstrous form of Kindred at the same time. Individuals like these will probably be the ones who notice that it is the post-Gehenna childer who remain the most human in their outlooks and behavior that are the ones who end up members of the new bloodlines instead of `breeding true'. This realization might in turn encourage them to seek them out- not to destroy them, but to protect them...seeing in them the possibility of a better future for all vampires. Mysterious missive/Resurrection (of a sect) Less than a month before the start of the RPG a strange message appeared in newspapers all over America. Most who glanced over it dismissed it as either a bad attempt at poetry or a silly riddle, but to any vampire who survived Gehenna, the enigmatic words held a hidden message that only they could recognize: The red eye in the night has faded The reign of the eldest at last abated. Dark Kindred seeking sanctuary and fellowship true, To the city of ashes amid mountains of blue. There to celebrate the Black Hand's demise, Only through unity shall the Ivory Tower again rise. Note: For those unable to decipher my atrocious attempt at poetry, the gist of the message is "Hey...Gehenna's over, those Antediluvian assholes are dead, and we're still alive. Come to Asheville North Carolina (mountains of blue meaning the Blue Ridge mountains, which surround Asheville...said city of ashes) and we can laugh at how the Sabbat was wiped out even more than we were, and we can start reviving the Camarilla" (the ivory tower). Now, the identity of the vampire who sent out that message is completely up to players. If you'd like to play a former member of the Camarilla who wants to resurrect the faction (perhaps with him/herself as Prince?) and created that message to draw in fellow surviving Camarilla Kindred to his/her cause, feel free to do so...the first character to be submitted with that identity in their profile claims it. Now, don't think this theme/hook applies only to Cammies. If you were an angry, bitter Sabbat survivor and came across that message while browsing the classifieds, it would probably piss you off. Some human-loving dandy is planning on reviving the Camarilla *and* took a shot at your beloved faction in a newspaper ad? Hell no! This could well be the provocation a former Sabbat vampire needs to go to Asheville too. Likewise, surviving Anarchs could be drawn to stop the Camarilla from being revived too. Vampires who had no affiliation to any faction (or young ones embraced after those sects fell during Gehenna) could come just in hopes of finding more of their kind and possible safety in numbers. Old world vs new order What if your character wants to stop the Camarilla from being resurrected, not out of any personal malice or grudge, but because he/she feels that with Gehenna changing so many things, bringing back any of the old factions is pointless? (The Sabbat, for instance...behind the violence and inhumanity, wanted to prevent Gehenna...obviously they failed, and with the Antediluvians gone, they'd have to pick a new `mission statement' so to speak, whereas the idea of keeping mortals in the dark about Kindred makes the philosophy of the Camarilla masquerade still very much valid.) What if they want to form a *new* faction entirely; with goals appropriate to the current state of vampire-kind. A forward-thinking original Kindred or a bold member of one of the new bloodlines could be a perfect candidate for this. Original kindred vs new bloodlines This has been touched upon, but its very likely that there are quite a few vampires among the Gehenna veterans who are pissed that their childer now don't automatically become members of their clan. Some may simply run these `failure' neonates off at the end of their first year, others may react with considerably more brutality. Others may take it even further- regarding the members of these young, still un-named bloodlines as a threat to the continued survival of the original clans if allowed to survive and spread. After all, just as any post-Gehenna vampire who becomes a full member of their sire's clan is thereafter able to `breed true' with each new Kindred they sire, so too do members of the new bloodlines gain that ability...so the paranoia of the new bloodlines `out-breeding' them could be a concern for any original Kindred (or their true clan childer) who might view the newly-emerging bloodlines as a potential menace that needs to be stamped out. |
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