Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Retropunch]

I think it's possible they could pull it off ok if they kept the story DLC story packs completely separate, but I do worry that the main game is going to be pretty light without the additional story packs or that they'll entwine them too much in the main game. I can imagine a horrible situation where you get told about a cool place/quest and when you get there a 'pay up sucker' banner pops up.

I'd say it's likely that it'll be clan based - they have said that all the clans will be released as free DLC later down the line and I imagine that they'll be released free but you'll have to pay for the story pack to do anything special with them. It's a good model - introduce a clan with lots of cool abilities/stuff going on but then lock it away - gives a good taster to get people hooked, a bit like you can battle all the factions in Total Warhammer without buying them.

I think my worry stems from this being their first proper AAA game and I imagine they have such a lot financially riding on it that they won't be able to help themselves but try to squeeze as hard as they can.

Interesting that there are Smiling Jack and Jeanette costumes - going to take them as confirmed in game from that!!

[nenjin]

Smiling Jack and Jeanette were like the only major NPCs in that game worth remembering, I have to say. The rest were pretty bland. So I'm not surprised they're leveraging those two in the DLC/story.

Honorable mentions for Fat Larry in the minor NPC category.

[Kagus]

What was the name of the (human?) dude that needed to be bribed with a prostitute, and would tit-shame your character if you were playing a female and tried to entice him yourself without having enough charisma?

[Retropunch]

Smiling Jack and Jeanette were like the only major NPCs in that game worth remembering, I have to say. The rest were pretty bland. So I'm not surprised they're leveraging those two in the DLC/story.

Honorable mentions for Fat Larry in the minor NPC category.

Nines Rodriguez, Deb of Night (I know not technically an NPC) and Bertram Tung also stand out for me - whilst it's not loads, it's far more than most games have in terms of memorable characters so I'm glad they're bringing them back.

[Akura]

What was the name of the (human?) dude that needed to be bribed with a prostitute, and would tit-shame your character if you were playing a female and tried to entice him yourself without having enough charisma?

Romero. Also, it's more fun(though also frustrating) to do the other objective of fighting off the zombies while he goes to get some beer.

[nenjin]

Just saying, of the major vampire NPCs, those are the only two that had enough character for me to remember them.

The vampire dude in Hollywood is painfully normal. Maybe as a contrast to the prior weird NPCs.

Nines is just a stoic and tough Brujah.

Bertram is a sarcastic Nosferatu.

That chick vampire in Vesuvius is pretty well done, sultry, emotive. She just wasn't that memorable to me. (Except for that rack, HEY YO!)

The Tremere Magus is, uh, blue. That's about all I can say about him.

I dunno, I always got the sense from VTM: Bloodlines that Act 1 and Act 4 (Santa Monica and China Town) got all the love. Between those two parts I felt like the game kinda dragged along and so did the ideas and characters.

I suppose I do have to give highly honorable mentions to the two old hitmen in China Town that want you to kill the other. JI WEN JA. Hah! Loved their dialog and plotline. Of course you could do what either wanted, or you could help them reconcile and gain some humanity back. D'awwwwwww.

[Astral]

The most memorable NPC is still the

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

stop sign.

"No, you stop!"

[Mech#4]

I think the most memorable NPCs for me were Jeanette and Therese Voerman, Jack, Fat Larry, and Gary Golden. I think a lot of the NPCs, while neat like Andrei, Nines or Tung, were also quite the stereotypes of their clan.
To my mind, this is fine since VtMB was the first real introduction to a lot of these so it's a solid baseline to work off but I would like to see the second game mix things up some more with characters who have more personality of their own.

[Kagus]

Of course, we're now so late in the game that they're gonna see a need to introduce players to the stereotypes all over again...

[nenjin]

Of course, we're now so late in the game that they're gonna see a need to introduce players to the stereotypes all over again...

Archetypes seems like a better word choice there, perhaps.

[Retropunch]

To introduce people to The World of Darkness they need to have the 'stereotypes' because otherwise it'd be really hard for non WoD players to get to grips with the world. WoD is pretty niche, has extremely complex lore/setting and has a relatively small following - it's not like Star Trek where it has this massive fan base and is so ingrained in culture that everyone knows what a Klingon is. Trying to explain what the differences between clans are would be very difficult to do without stereotypical characters that are (as Nenjin puts it) archetypes of their clans.

Not to say that the characters can't be stereotypical versions of their clan AND be interesting/unique - just that I think it won't be very nuanced. There's this feeling that seems to have seeped into the WoD forums/reddit pages - that the WoD setting is somehow really well known, and that the game will go into all these obscure areas of lore and be super nuanced with their portrayal of the clans etc. I strongly doubt it'll be anything other than Malkavians=crazy|Nosferatu=monstrous|Ventrue=rich etc. 

I don't feel it needs to be either - sure it's great if they can build in some nuances to how the clans are (Malkavians are crazy, but not at all stupid, the Ventrue's idea of dignitas etc.) but if they can just manage to hit the tone right then I feel all the rest will slot into place if the game does well in terms of expansions, sequels etc.

[Kagus]

Are Nossies actually any good at stuff? At first glance it seemed to me that they need to invest so much stuff into pure "survive the modern world" skills/stats that they were kinda handicapped if you wanted to do anything that wasn't explicitly "avoid notice".

[nenjin]

Stereotypes only work if the target audience understands the subject to begin with. That's the basis of a stereotype. If you've never been exposed to WoD, you have no preconceptions of what a Brujah is versus a Toreador. How can you stereotype a member of the clan if you don't even know what the clan is about?

"Archetypes" however are more universal and don't necessarily require an understanding of the source material to understand the themes that underpin it. Brujah are tough guys. And Nines is the embodiment of that archetype. Short spoken, stoic, ready for violence. Velvet Velour is an archetype of the sultry, feelsy artist type. (Or maybe she's a caricature.) Smiling Jack is an archetype of a Gangrel: wild, rebellious, filthy.

By understanding the archetype, you understand the broader themes of the clans they belong to.

Beyond that understanding, then you arrive at stereotypes, and the desire for unique characters who refute or at least contrast the dominant themes of their clans. Where you end up with a Redneck Ventrue or a New York uppercrust Brujah.

Are Nossies actually any good at stuff? At first glance it seemed to me that they need to invest so much stuff into pure "survive the modern world" skills/stats that they were kinda handicapped if you wanted to do anything that wasn't explicitly "avoid notice".

Yeah, Stealth is their bag. But you gotta apply stealth to the world of the Masquerade rather than just considering how it helps them operate in the mortal world. They make great scouts, spies, saboteurs and assassins, even in places that would constitute a Masquerade breach if they're caught. Depending on the edition Obfuscation IIRC is good for more than just clouding people's awareness of you. And invisibility can make up for a lot in tabletop WoD, where you had to skip on all the combat brawn.

But yeah. I'd never opt to play a Nosferatu. I'd rather not have to work that hard to participate in what's going on. My brother played a Nos in LARP Vampire the Masquerade and he quite enjoyed all the shenanigans he could get away with by simply going "I'm not here anymore."

[Mech#4]

Yah, archetype would be more what I meant, thanks.

Another interesting character was Beckett. He's gangrel and kind of a loner but also a historian and archaeologist who's interested in discovering the truth behind things. I think he's an actual character from the rulebooks so he had more background to draw from.
I'm pretty sure Smiling Jack is Brujah but he's quite "live and let live unless you mess with me" type rather than "angry about everything".


From what I remember playing as a Nosferatu in VtMB1, yes you had to sneak around the streets to avoid masquerade violations, however once you got into any of the buildings with quest givers the reaction was more "Oh, weird costume. Is there a film being shot?" Obviously so you didn't miss out on all the side quests though it did kind of undermine the unnatural creepiness they're supposed to have. You also got neat hideouts in the sewers instead of the apartments which was a nice touch.

[George_Chickens]

Didn't Jack

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

slaughter the entire crew of a ship to set up a scheme to sabotage the Camarilla? That's not so live and let live.