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[AlleeCat]

Hey there! I'm sure most of you are aware of an RPG called "Vampire - The Masquerade." Well, unfortunately, VTM was discontinued in 2004, and was rebooted as Vampire - The Requiem, focusing less on Judeo-Christian mythology, and more on the ancient Romans. I'm still going to take some things from VTM that I liked, however, such as the Malk(a/o)vian Madness Network, and other aspects of certain clans/bloodlines that were left out of the reboot. In fact, most of the game will be focused on bringing back an old staple of the VTM timeline.

Character generation should be about the same, I'll just tell you if you get any extra bonuses and whatnot. For sheets, use www.myth-weavers.com with a New World of Darkness sheet. You'll all be vampires, and I'm not going to restrict clans or bloodlines, but instead of thinking of what kind of vampire you are, think more about who you were in life, before the Embrace. This campaign is going to start you fresh, just after being turned.

The game will take place in modern day Seattle. A mysterious Satanic cult has risen up, and saying its leader has a magnetic personality is an understatement. For one reason or another, you've decided to join this cult, and that reason is up to you to decide. You didn't drink the punch, though, did you?

[My Name is Immaterial]

Sweet! Someone tried to run a game here, but it didn't end up working out. Play by post, I'm assuming?

[AlleeCat]

Indeed. I kind of realized that I forgot to mention in the OP that I was actually starting a game.

[Harry Baldman]

You see, I'm technically sort of interested in this sort of game, but I'm having serious reservations about the ruleset. I tried joining a D&D play-by-post game some time ago, and it didn't really work out. During the making of the sheet, I already got the feeling that the tabletop mechanics were simply too much of a hassle to bother with in a play-by-post format, not to mention the incredibly slow pace a play-by-post game entails. I'm not really familiar with the WoD mechanics, though, so that's why I'm asking. Any chance of the mechanics being simplified a bit so we don't get stuck on accounting stuff? I took a look at the sheet I'd theoretically need to fill out, and I didn't exactly feel reassured.

I guess what I'm asking here is, the idea is that we're going to be filling out sheets, but are we really going to need all that information? And if we are, can you point me to any material I could read on the matter? DnD has the Player's Handbook, does WoD have something similar?

[My Name is Immaterial]

Spoiler: A backstory (click to show/hide)

David Hestings was born to a middle manager and a stay-at-home mom, both of whom believed deeply in the American Dream; work hard, and good things will come to you. They actually believed in a modified version; work hard in the system, and the system will give you your share. This was the mantra that they raised their four children by.
David was the youngest of four, but failed to receive the stereotypical doting normally given to the youngest child. It instead fell to his sister, the third child. Due to this, and many other things, he could never shake the feeling he was a mistake.
He never really connected with his parents; his father was always traveling for work and his mother was too busy with three other kids and chores to pay much attention to him. Only his mother showed up for his high-school graduation, and when he graduated from a large, public university with a Bachelor's in Accounting (there was never any question about his choice of major. His father refused to help pay for a degree in astronomy so David could work towards becoming an astrophysicist. "There's no future for you in the stars. Get a real degree that'll get you places in life."), not one of his family members showed up to congratulate him.
He got a job in a nation-wide paper distributor, and very slowly working his way up to right below management, where he stayed for eight years.
At 44, he threw his hands up in the air and had a midlife crisis. He quit his job, moved to Seattle for no reason, couldn't find employment, became depressed and did drugs for about a week, song when he realized that drugs were really expensive. He took work where he could, making minimum wage.
He had never felt so lost. Before, he had a path. It wasn't his path, but it was something. Now, he was adrift, looking for something to grab onto. And that's when he saw the poster.

[notquitethere]

Harry, I totally get your reservations. Vampire is way less crunchy than D&D though, so should be smoother to run in this. Also, if I'm in then you'll know there'll be at least one other active player. I'll run you through character creation. There's also an easy to follow list here.

Basics
If you really like, you can read the core World of Darkness book but it's completely unnecessary. A glance through the Vampire core book wouldn't hurt though. To save you and anyone else who wants to play some hassle, I'll run through everything you need to know, so you won't need to read anything else (though if you do, you'll find more options).

First, take a look at the character sheet and notice there are three areas: attributes, skills, and other traits. We'll quickly run through them. But before all that, you'll need a name and character concept. Because we're newly turned, focus on the human being that you were until this evening.

I'll go for Alice Drinkwater: an impressionable college student who got wrapped up in this satanist cult because she thought it looked fun and edgy. She majors in Political Science, has wealthy parents and played baseball during highschool.

Attributes

You start with one dot in every attribute. This represents poor ability in that area. You'll note the attributes are split up into Mental, Physical and Social. Decide which area will be your primary, secondary and tertiary area and put 5, 4 and 3 points in the areas respectively. 5th dot of anything costs two points.

Alice is weak-willed, with poor resolve, so Mental is her tertiary. She's quite fit and ingratiating sociable, so social is her primary and physical secondary. She ends up with average scores in all areas (two dots) with below average resolve and composure (one dot) and above average intelligence, dexterity, and manipulation. She's quite stunning and, though impressionable, she's quite striking, so has very good presence of 4.

Skills
Skills are also arranged mental, physical and social and you prioritise them as well, but they don't have to prioritised in the same order. Untrained skills have a -1 penalty (-3 for mental skills). Put 11 dots in your primary, 7 in your secondary and 4 in your tertiary. 5th dot of anything costs two points. Then, give yourself three specialties in three different skills, which give you a +1 bonus when you use that skill.

Alice is a student and knows a lot of stuff, so mental is her primary skill set, followed by social (she'll have had lots of friends back in high school). Physical is her tertiary: while she's fit and healthy she hasn't done much other than a few sports. She takes here specialties in Computer: Social Media; Weaponry: baseball bat; and Socialise: gossiping.

Merits
Merits are small benefits that make your character more unique. There's all the merits here. It'll be easier if you look at mental, then physical then social rather than all in a big list. You've got seven dots to spend in merits, and the merits vary in cost. Resources and Contacts are always useful things to take.

Alice takes Contacts 2 (Students, Professors) to represent that she knows people at college she can ask for information (two dots). She's pretty and she knows it, with Striking Looks (two dots). Her parents keep her in money, with Resources 2 (two dots) and she's quite quick on her feet with Fleet of Foot (one dot), which gives her +1 speed.

Vampire Stuff
Are we doing this in game. Allee or should we decide our starting clan and disciplines?

Virtue/Vice
You regain willpower by acting towards your vices and virtues. The vices are Pride, Wrath, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Sloth and Greed. The virtues are Charity, Faith, Hope, Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. Pick one of each.

Alice always thinks everyone else seems to have their life sorted out, it's so unfair! Her vice is Envy. She fundamentally believes everything is going to work out and so has Hope as her virtue.

Finishing up
There's just a couple of derived stats left which you calculate like this:
Size = 5 for adult human-sized Kindred, 4 if you're a child, 6 if you take the Giant merit
Health= Stamina + Size
Willpower = Resolve + Composure
Defense = Lowest of Dexterity or Wits
Initiative Mod = Dexterity + Composure
Speed = Strength + Dexterity +5
Starting Humanity = 7
Blood Potency = 1 (You can increase BP by 1 for three merit dots. This represents the supernatural potency of your blood. It's usually 1 for new vampires and can be raised in play.)
Vitae = d10 roll (This is the 'Advantage' on the mythweavers page. It starts out with a max of 10 unless you take the Blood Potency merit.)
Equipment: this isn't really that important, but list a few things that you're character would have based on the concept and their skills.

Alice so far

Spoiler: System Aside (click to show/hide)

If you like Masquerade Allee, you might like the crypto-reboot of Requiem called Blood and Smoke: it's a more streamlined version of Requiem that brings back many of the elements of Masquerade.

[AlleeCat]

You can choose your Clan and Bloodline. It should probably have something to do with your character's personality, for instance, Alice Drinkwater would probably be in the Ventrue Clan, and as for Bloodline, Malocusian would probably fit, as would Malkovian.

Also, do not choose a Covenant, as you will be inducted into one upon starting the game.

[notquitethere]

I was thinking Ventrue or Daeva would work, yes. Malacusians are the ones that don't leave their havens right? Probably best not. Malkovian could be fun. I'd have to put aside 3 merits points for blood potency 2 to join a bloodline, right?

[AlleeCat]

I was thinking Ventrue or Daeva would work, yes. Malacusians are the ones that don't leave their havens right? Probably best not. Malkovian could be fun. I'd have to put aside 3 merits points for blood potency 2 to join a bloodline, right?

Right, I forgot about that. I'm not going to force a bloodline on you, but you can join one if you want. You also have to spend Willpower to join a Bloodline, if I remember correctly.

[notquitethere]

I think when you do it at character creation, no willpower expenditure is necessary (as it happens before you start play). I've never played a Malkovian before and if there's an interesting derangement that fits with the character I'm quite tempted to go with that.

[AlleeCat]

Remember, the Malkovian Madness network is a thing again, so in addition to your derangement, you'll also be hearing The Voices.

[My Name is Immaterial]

I can't get started with my sheet until Friday, I'm afraid. Sorry about this. Don't wait on me to start the game.

[Harry Baldman]

Okay, wrote up a sheet, which was indeed much less painful and long than it was in DnD. It's a cabbie!

Sheet here.

I'm kind of undecided on the clan, though. Theoretically, Gangrel could fit, but I do like the idea of a Mekhet or even a Nosferatu better. I'm wondering whether it wouldn't be better to leave it up to the GM, since IC the choice of who exactly vampifies my guy isn't really up to him in the first place.

EDIT: Much better character concept inbound!

[notquitethere]

Ah, looking good Harry! I'll flesh out Alice's descriptions and background a fair bit more tonight.

Do you see your cabbie as being sinister/mysterious, secretive/perceptive or wild/tough? That would edge you Nosferatu, Mekhet or Gangrel respectively.

[GiglameshDespair]

Interested.