[CamRI] Requiem VSS review

[James Ruggiero]

Requiem players,

It has been almost 4 years since we revised our VSS for requiem. I have
edited the existing one slightly to reflect today. Please read the VSS and
comment on changes you would like to see:

Thank you,
James A Ruggiero
US2002023492
VST VAMPIRE

==============================================================================

I. Information



Domain Name: The House on 276 Angell St.

Venue Name: The Providence Slow Dance

Lead Venue Storyteller: James A Ruggiero

Storyteller Contact: vstVampire at camarillaprovidence.org

Genre: Vampire the Requiem

Place/Time:  Saturday of the third full weekend of the month.

Directions: varies

Theme/Mood: Darkness, action, and mystery with evolving plot.







II. Styles of Play



*Use scale below



Style of Play Rating

Action 4

Character Development 3

Darkness 3

Drama 3

Intrigue 3

Mystery 4

Character Corruption 5





Rating Description



1 Player Initiated Only

2 Sometimes present

3 Often present

4 Usually present

5 Always present









III. Venue Description



The earliest Kindred were native Americans. Their lines are believed to have
been sired by Kindred who arrived via the land bridge. These vampires are
almost solely comprised of unaligned Gangrel and Mekhet.



Colonial Kindred settlement was patterned off of mortal movement. As the
'heretics' of puritan society were pushed to Rhode Island the 'heretics' of
kindred society were also pushed.



Circle of the Crone, Ordo Dracul, and the Carthian movement settlers lived
in peace with the native unaligned kindred. They even worked together to
fight off a tribal threat from Connecticut and a religious crusade from
Boston's hardcore Lancea Sanctum base.



The revolutionary war was a key turning-point in local kindred history. The
English captured Newport. The vampires of Newport were forced to flea or go
underground. Lafayette led the revolutionaries, possibly incited by the
original kindred, to remove the English foothold.



The majority of the Circle of the Crone had been living in Newport until
this time. Only one of their members is known to have survived. It's
possible some fled. It's also possible they all were discovered and
destroyed. Another possibility is that they remain there hidden, possibly
torpored. If they are there, are they growing in power or weakening in
torpor?



After the war, the Lancea Sanctum and Invictus finally took deep lasting
roots in Providence. The prince system is considered obsolete by the
Carthians; however they have been forced to accept it.



In 2005, the political environment changed; the largest step being the Ordo
Dracul stepping uncharacteristically forward to claim the city. After the
turmoil ended and a tentative stability formed over the years the city is
now comprised of a mix of covenants holding to the traditions and dealing
with change as the power of each covenant waxes and wanes.



IV. Storytelling Mechanics



Experience Award Guidelines: The experience reward for a game session is up
to five experience points per player. If a player plays two PC's for the
session, they may divide the five experience points as they see fit between
the two PC's, but may never exceed five total points between the two PC's.



If the player then submits a chronicle detailing what their characters did
at the session, she/he will receive addition experience traits.



One week after game, a player may submit a write up of downtime and goals,
where they will be rewarded experience points for their work.



Character restrictions: This is an honor system. If the storyteller feels
the character will unbalance the game, the character will be denied access
to play. If you are unsure please ask for prior approval.



"Local plot may add modifiers or require tests/checks for entry to our game,
depending on the Setting at the time"



1. Proxy Rules: All proxy requests to the Requiem venue must be received by
the Venue Storyteller (vstVampire at camarillaprovidence.org) in writing or
email no less than one week in advance, and must contain the following:



A. Full character sheet. This includes any special approvals for items,
powers, influence, merits, or flaws that require special approvals. Without
proof of these approvals, those special approval items will **not** be used
in the proxy.



B. VST / DST / RST contact information (e-mail & phone number). We will need
to able to confirm things with them and give them the results of the proxy
so they can incorporate said results into their games.



C. Clearly stated goals for your character. You need to be as precise as
possible when you state your character's goals and actions for the proxy.

Any information that is left out will be left up to the storyteller staff to
include. Assumptions can and will be made if necessary.



D. Contingency plans. Please include contingency plans as the best-laid
plans are sometimes disrupted. Without the contingency plans, the
storytelling staff will make decisions for the characters. These decisions
may or may not be what the players would have done.



E. Agreement to terms and conditions of the proxy. Below are listed the
terms and conditions of the proxy. If you are not comfortable with these
conditions, then do not proxy your character.



TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF PROXY PLAY

1. All proxy play is final.

2. While in proxy play, the character will not be in play any place else or
in other proxy scenes. This includes the use of Auspex or similar other
venue type powers. This also includes e-mail based scenes.

3. Character death or worse are possibilities. In every proxy scene, there
are inherent dangers. Players who agree to proxy are being made known these
results are possibilities of proxy play.









V. In-Character Travel risks:



Rhode Island, Providence in particular, is a dark and inherently corrupted
place. All manner of supernatural creatures and denizens claim the city and
the area surrounding it as home.  While a tentative truce is kept between
those organized supernaturals those that would break this truce will likely
find themselves standing alone.



Rhode Island drivers are perhaps the most dangerous travel risk. Take, for
example, Donald Graham from Woonsocket, a church deacon who killed a fellow
motorist with a crossbow for “flashing his lights.” Even beyond the road
rage is the poor driving, considered only marginally better than Boston
drivers.



The mortal populaces know they live in a dark world. The righteous and
corrupt alike reside here. While organizations such as the Police might be
mostly corrupt the bastions justice still peak their head out in the storm.
While a visiting kindred can expect his influence to be effective, it may
often require more effort than normal as Rhode Islanders are xenophobic and
will rebel just because the character is not Rhode Island themselves





VI. Challenges:



Standard with the following proposed mechanics:



Proposed Mechanics:



The storyteller’s of the game reserve the right to ask participants of a
scene to run the scene theatrically and with role-playing rather than with
challenges. Another option is to work out challenges away from the play
space and come back with a narrative flow of events to reflect how the
challenges went.



Starting vitae:



A single draw plus 1 plus the herd merit unless mechanics such as “The Blood
Seeps Slowly” or other starting vitae merits or powers are applicable.



Feeding:


Players will inform the ST the style of feeding they wish to perform by
supplying an Attribute and Skill. It will be assumed they will use their wit
and supernatural powers in a way to avoid breaking the Masquerade. Feeding
is not meant to be difficult nor time consuming in this abstract method.

 Situational modifiers:

+2 The character seeks an animal vessel or some other source of Vitae that
poses less risk than active human prey (such as a blood bank).

+2 The character hunts in the Rack or some other place where vessels are
both plentiful and comparatively willing.

— Vessels are neither especially numerous nor reckless with whom they share
their company.

-2 The character takes efforts to hide his identity from other Kindred
(whether present or through secondhand accounts).

-2 The character hunts in the Barrens or some other place where vessels are
scarce or particularly suspicious of others.

-3 to -5 The character seeks a very specific vessel, such as “brunette women
less than 40 years old” or “children of Eastern European descent.”

+1 to +5 A player may apply their haven merit to their feeding challenge. A
visiting player may only use this advantage at the beginning of the night
prior to entering the city. This bonus is allowed to not deprive a player of
their hard earned exp on these merits.







VII. Style:



An emphasis on character development and corruption with darkness and
mystery should pervade the story. Choices will be a common theme, with most
choices having a consequence (good or bad). Humanity, the preservation or
loss, is heavily looked at and represents the characters numerical slide to
the beast.



Stories a presented to allow players to pursue their own style of play;
there will generally be action, mystery, and intrigue plots running at the
same time. The style of the game will flow in the directions the PCs take
it.









VIII. Antagonists:



Antagonists will vary greatly from the mundane to the supernatural. Most of
them are byproducts of the city’s corruption and will appear insane when
quickly looked at. But all will have motivations and will react to events as
if they themselves were player characters. It is the goal of the ST staff to
keep the characters as living interactions. NPCs while not the center of the
stories still need to be real enough to provide support to the main
characters the PCs.







IX. Venue rules:



Standard
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