Most of the games that I have played
or run were set in Camarilla cities; so, I don’t have much experience with
Non-Camarilla Clans. When I first
started playing Vampire the Masquerade, I had a lot of bad experiences with
power-gamers playing Assamites. They
played the kind of murderous sociopathic characters that I wouldn’t allow in my
games now. They tried to diablerize (in Revised) their way through the city’s hierarchy, and if they got the scent of a
character with a lower generation than them, that character was going to meet
his or her final death very soon.
Playing an Assamite for them was an excuseto do
whatever they wanted because they could claimed that they were just playing their character,
when in reality they were only working for their best interests.
However, I have recently begun
using Assamites as antagonists in my Chronicles.
They are great villains for a story because players are already
frightened of them and their abilities.
Quietus, Obfuscate, and Celerity are all powerful Disciplines that when
paired to the Assamite’s philosophy and goals makes for a remorseless and
nearly unstoppable killer. The first
level of Quietus creates a bubble of silence around the Assamite. Using the Discipline loudly announces the
existence of a nearby Assamite, but simultaneously that knowledge is terrifying
to the players because they can’t see the Assamite thanks to his or her use of Obfuscate. Celerity is usually
considered the most powerful physical Discipline because it gives the character
extra actions.
By setting
the scene in a burnt out tenement building that is crumbling and creaking, the
players will be as frightened as their characters when you say “You try to talk
but you can't even hear yourself. You
hear nothing, nothing at all.” The
players panic because they know only an Assamite’s Quietus has that
effect. An Assamite, a member of a clan
known to hunt and kill other Kindred for their blood, is in the building and
the PCs can’t hear him/her, can’t see him/her, can’t do anything but wait. It's a great moment and I really enjoy watching the players squirm as they try to figure out what to do.
Despite
my early bad experience with them, the Assamites are my favorite non-Camarilla Clan
because they are useful as a tool when I’m the Storyteller. I don’t think that I would ever play one because their attitudes and goals could be disruptive to the group. If I was to say which non-Camarilla clan I
would most like to play, I would have to say True Brujah, despite their
reputation and the reputation of people who play True Brujah (those who want to
be unique, beautiful snowflakes). I have
wanted to play a True Brujah since I first read Dirty Secrets of the Black
Hand, and I still haven’t played one. Hopefully,
I’ll get a chance in the near future.
I see different Bloodlines from Clans.
ReplyDeleteFor a Bloodline i would say, Tlacique, i bought the book where they were firstly presented and i liked see them. They are really scary like NPCs and full of stories to PCs. And they could be the key about some true origin for Urbane Gangrel...
For true Clans, i have doubts. I've played some Ravnos, without Rom thing, and i've learned taht many people play Malkavians just like Ravnos, counfunding frightning behaviour with derangment and madness. I like the witty Beast that all of them carry and how they are prone to fall cause that.
But i want play one Giovanni soon. They have one really Powerfull and partially unique Discipline like Necromancy, but too one easy and on some extent fair Weakness (just like the Ravnos, the Lamia's Curse make them very prone to lose their Humanity), along two usefull Discipline. I have companions players that they don't see usefull Dominate. Potence is usefull with no argue. Other thing, their "bloodlines" or minor families are very prone to be playable, and they help to make many and very different concepts. from the Greaverobber to the "Cleaner", and to the Shark-Brokker or the Prince Councellor. Yes i say Giovanni. His Necromancy is the second more owned Discipline beteewn, or the first from the Signature Disciplines (Protean and Obtnebration together are not on all the same numbers of Bloodlines), so that make them not the only "snowflake" for that. Yes, i would play one on Modern setting.
Ravnos are on the short list of clans that I would like to play, especially after reading their clanbook. Honestly, I'd like a chance to play just about every clan and bloodline as long as they made sense in the setting. I don't know anything about the Giovanni other than what's in the main rule book. I hope their 1st/2nd Edition clanbook is as good as the Ravnos book.
ReplyDeleteI think that i've never seen it or too time ago at least that i picked up, i think that could be not bad... But i didn't like it too much the Ravnos 1st/2nd book, i felt that almost every clan made their ancestorship pre-Antediluvias/Third Generation. And, I like play non-Rom Ravnos after all.
DeleteYou are right, too many of the clans did try to claim their ancestor was something special rather than being a 3rd Generation Antediluvian. Everyone wants to think they are special. I can understand why you didn't like the Ravnos Clanbook because it does have a negative opinion on the Non-Rom Ravnos.
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