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 Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 11:19 am
Have any questions about the role play? Want to chat OOC with others from the rp? Do so here!
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Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 3:29 pm
Not so much as question as a concerned comment... this "Club Envy" rp is very much so a... well a commerce rp. I thought a few people had showed concern when the, er, Tower rp was brought up that a pure commerce style wouldn't work well for a guild. It's my personal preference to have the rps here have a story involved with them- and I know I don't exactly hold much weight, but...
Anyway, I love modern fantasy, even vampires. If we got the guild doing a small but serious role-play about bloodsuckers in modern New York, I'd be eager to join, but the idea of a bar/hang out for guildies, no matter what pretense it follows, really isn't my cup of tea.
So... how interested would you be in turning this idea into an actual rp? I would be eager to help set something up with you.
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Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 3:50 pm
You bring up a good point, a very good point, actually, about commerce RPs sucking major butt. lol I have tried some of the Bar RPs in Barton and needless to say I don't play there any more.
I'd like to point out that this RP is carried over from a different site. There was no plot for the room, but each individual character had their own plot and life story to tell. It was a formula that work for that site but it's a completely different animal. I have no idea how attempting that here would even work.
So, since you seem to be awesome with ideas I'd love some help to adapt this RP for Gaia.
The old site was mainly a room would have a setting and you'd make a character. This bio stuff and submitting PMs was unheard of. While it did make things freer to just make up a character and play it when ever easy, things got a little messy. (Also a reason why I state the obvious in my rules. People would find loop holes to break the system.)
TL;DR: I'd love your help, dear. ^_^
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Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 4:18 pm
I'll preface by saying that vampires are not my favorite or my best, but I still have a lot of good stuff for them. If you know Vampire the Requiem/Masquerade, that's the basis for a lot of my stuff. also, if you know Blade and SG1 (the gould), those are some of the things I bring in.
Okay, specifics:
1) Vampires versus Hunters: it is a classic modern theme that, I think, at least needs to be touched on in everything. People don't like serial killers; as long as there are vampires, humans will be trying to kill them. Modern and post-modern settings make this particularly, er... epic. Awesome technology mixed with trying not to be noticed by normal humans= action-horror and intrigue.
2) vampires versus vampires: In my concept, all vampires are without exception greedy, ruthless and territorial. Once they get old enough to live on their own, they're already thinking about how to take over a city. Most of their immortality is about feeding on humans and fighting each other for control. The way this plays out on a large scale, local scale or between individuals is all part of the Dance Macabre. all about political intrigue, being evil, back stabbing and dominance.
3) the requiem: a vampire's life is shaped by tragedy, circumstance and necessity. this usually plays better with two people, but it could work with a small group. essentially, it would be about growing up from fledgling to master, and the horrors between. It can encompass all the themes in the genre overlapping, but is very long running. dealing with Hunters, older Vampires, your own Hunger, other supernaturals, the way the world changes around you... moral dilemmas, maybe some politics, maybe some action, a lot of horror.
4) vampire/supernatural: the vampire community dealing with any other supernatural race. how and why they interact, and what kind of relationships are formed. I do not mean vamps versus lycans- that has been done to death- but what are the differences between vampires and any other race, and how to do those vampires form relationships, of any kind, on a small scale. this would be, like, interacting with wizards, lycans, changelings, elves, True Fey- anything else vaguely magical that needs to hide from human kind.
and, because it appears in everything, 5) the heroic journey: vampires cannot be good guys. anti-heroes, yes; villains, definitely; never heroes. but they can still go on a quest for the greater good. I'm bad at these adventure story ideas, but essentially (several) young vampires still struggling with their own existence have to go on a quest that challenges their powers, intelligence and social skill in a journey to make their world a better place. Maybe the Hunters really suck and its time to get rid of them for good. maybe lurking in the shadows isn't good enough, and it's time to take over mankind for real. maybe some vampire figures out how to walk in sunlight, or become human again, and is using this to take over. maybe the Bloodlines are thinning out and they have to face the end of their race. maybe there are monsters more evil than vampires, and distasteful though it may be, they have to save humans in order to have a meal tomorrow.
so... five basic categories- themes- for a story. out of the five, what's interesting to you? or anyone else in this guild that wants to play vampires?
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Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 4:41 pm
Four is exactly what I want from this RP. I look at vampires one of two ways:
One is the out right monster. The perfect predator. Kill with out a thought.
The other is a human being, like anyone else you might know, falling victim to a curse. Yes they need to kill to survive (and at the very least injure to survive depending on how you form the mythos) but in a movie or a role play it's more about the core of a human never truly growing cold from living such a life. I like this idea more, too. The idea of a character being something and doing things that are out of their control, yet being truly remorseful for it is pretty interesting. They hunt to survive, they kill, but are they more than human, or are they still equal? Which humans must they kill? And So on.
Most of my stories go right back to: How does this effect the character? How do they get on in life? How can this experience change them?
(Like I mentioned before, I'm mentally geared to think of characters first and plot second.) sweatdrop
Think we could make up something interesting from that?
Edit: Also, I do know VtM. While it's not exactly what I'm aiming for in game play, that kind of world is very close to what I'm looking for.
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 11:32 am
You see I agree... kind of with your second type of vampire- the human kind- but only a little. frankly, I find them to be way too emo to earn my sympathy, but it feels like the only appropriate way to have character development in a vampire.
I like sadists, myself. I lean towards villains and anti-heroes in everything I write. So what interests me as far as vampires and Fey is having a culture of sociopaths. Like, they are heartless monsters, but they have to have some kind of society; what's the life of an immortal who feeds on people? and I don't take it to a decadent extreme, like twenty vampires turning people into fountains and hosting orgies and doing skin play-- that is so not my scene-- but arrogance, elegance, hatred. much like the gould or the wraith [sorry, sorry. I'll stop with the stargate references. I know I'm a dork]
but yes, character torture, moral dilemmas and emo vampires. That can so be worked with. and you said you wanted play with their relationship with other supernaturals? I can totally do that.
So I'd suggest the players have young vampires- older than... 25 but younger than 200: the age where they can survive on their own, but they still retain some of their humanity (depending on how traumatizing their childhood is). like, not even old enough to create another vampire. Young. since we want people interacting, I'd say that the players form a single coven, with you as our Elder. To be specific, I propose that your character- the leader- is either setting up in a new city or is just entering the scene of vampire politics, and he decides to start a new kiss (kiss, not coven. coven of witches; kiss of vampires. ...sorry). He gathers young vampires from across the city, all different bloodlines, etc, to be his new enforcers as he sets himself up to become a Master of the City. The players choose this because of protection- at their age, they have to fight with every other pair of fangs just to walk on the streets; they need someone big to watch their backs, you know?
If you wish, I can GM as the other supernatural groups. it's a hobby of mine, so I'll be able to come up with a lot of good stuff to throw at you. So we combine those ideas into something big and dramatic. People play young, mostly human vampires, struggling with their own existence, forced to live together. We touch on vampire politics, and how monstrous the Elders are, and forcing the players to realize they might be like that someday. And the central conflict of the rp will be vampires living in a city alongside wizards, lycans, changelings and elves- each with their own issues- and having to deal with these Others, either as friends or foe.
what do you think?
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 12:39 pm
Who said emo? talk2hand
But seriously, vampires with remorse and all the good stuff, minus any hint of emo. (Damn emos ruining piercings, hair cuts, and my vampires. Bah!)
Though, I do love the plot idea. There are four characters up right now. Two are mine. They are a bit of a duo. I can't play the son with out the father, and if I play the father for a while I start to miss having the son there. (Reading both their bios will make it make more sense.)
I have one human there, and someone made another really old vampire.
Dekell and Johnathon need to stay the way I have them (Or I would just make new vampires, yuh know?) So, maybe I should give you some of their old clan mythos. (Maybe in PM) I have an NPC you might love to have. While Dekell still has a heart this other character is cold and heartless. I can't play her myself because she's so cold it's too hard for me. lol
Think we can still run this RP with having two characters that are really old, and one being around 300?
(Dekell and John being so old was a fluke because I made them for other RPs and they got shifted around so much that now they are what they are in a modern setting.)
I dunno if I mentioned it: but I like the WoD kind of as a bit of a loose structure for some things.
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 3:29 pm
I am personally inclined to say no, we cannot run this with two old vampires. and I have several good reasons for this. 1) two old vampires are not going to play well together. 2) older vampires have already gone through the character development stuff and have lost all of their humanity, thus are boring as main characters. 3) rps work better when the players are forced to interact.
In theory, a political rp could work, where every body plays an Elder as their main and then their clan as their NPC. For instance, you play your 1900 y.o. and his followers. they play their 2000 y.o. and their follows, more players etc, and then the role-play is all about these groups competing for power, but... You have to have a certain kind of group to make that work. Everyone has to be all about politics and back stabbing and power plays and such- and they have to know how to play it well. Frankly, I would need convincing to run a group/play with a group with a story like that; but this is your rp, I'm only here to help.
Your Milage May Vary, but I feel that the best way to play vampires in a group- and this is kind of a WoD set-up- is to have the main characters play younger vamps of the same kiss, and only have NPC's be old and powerful.
[plus, and this is my personal opinion, I do not trust people to play old vampires. Most people (especially on gaia) have no knowledge of history, no comprehension of vampires, and no respect for their characters. You cannot say that your vampire is 2000 years old (but looks 16), claims to be a Victorian Era princess, acts like a 21st century womens rights activist, and still retains their humanity. Mind you, I'm not bagging on anyone in this guild, but hopping through forums that is all I see in the vampire genre, and I refuse to acknowledge people like that.]
..that turned into me ranting and being agnsty, but hopefully I brought up a good point.
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 3:36 pm
Some info on the Bloodline.
The NPC's name is Shyndoah. I always saw her being very asian in my mind. She's older than Dekell by at the very least a few years. She holds this over his head at great length to cause him fear and worry and so on. At first this worried him but he quickly got over it. They have a very back handed relationship. Shyn in more cold and calculating than Dekell, even at Dekell's most inhumane moments. She looks at her sired as her play things, and looks at humans as even less. I never figured out what she does when she's not pestering Dekell, because she was always an NPC.
Now for the dynamic on the bloodline. I hope you can follow me on this because I've only ever explained it out loud once.
Dekell and Shyn are considered first generation. There children are second. Their children's chrildren third, next line is fourth. After fourth it's too deluted to be considered real family. Shyn would probably want to off them, but Dekell not so much.
So, if we look at it like a family, First gen are mother and father. Idealy Shyn and Dekell would be a unit, like a married couple. Second Gen are like their children. Third gen would be Dekell and Shyn's nieces and nephews. Fourth are diluted to be more like house hold servants.
Fifth and lower I never bothered pondering because Dekell never sired enough people for it to be an issue as of yet.
So, now, I introduce something that is unique to the Dutockale bloodline. The Amulets.
Dekell and Shyndoah each have one and that's it. This is the cause of their vampirism. Imagine a smallish pendant, dark red with a flat back on a cord. There is a small etching of a D on the glass front. The red is actually blood of the vampire wearing it. Anyone can take this amulet after that Vampire has died to take their place.
Dekell got his after the vampire before him died in a field. The amulet quietly called to him, pulling on his desire to have something so nice to bring home to his family. He put it on and the blood entered him. It killed off everything inside of him and renewed them with the vampiric "virus". The blood then refilled the amulet.
If Shyn or Dekell were ever to say "F-- this stuff" take off the amulet and never put it back on they would die. Then anyone would be free to claim that amulet.
There are rules and codes of conduct about the amulets changing hands. There must always be one male and one female to keep balance. A proper challenge must be issued and accepted. Only the second Gen has any right to do so, anyone lower could be killed. When one first gen sires someone, the other must co-sire them in a ritual. However, both Dekell and Shyn have never done this, so only Shyn's 2nd gen may challenge Shyn and Dekell's Second Gen can challenge Dekell.
That's kinda the base and I don't want to smack you with too much text.
Ask me some questions and I'll know what else to post! ^_^
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 3:54 pm
um.... Okay. I really don't know what to say, because my concepts of vampires are so wildly different, and undeveloped by comparison. I... wouldn't know where to go with that bloodline, or how to work it into the ideas I'd previously mentioned, but... I have a kind of narrow perspective of this genre.
The set-up I was thinking of was more about necessity and forced alliances rather than family. The situation I would present is Dekell is in a new city, surrounded by vampires his age or older and their clans, without anyone loyal to him. He recruits younger vampires that have no alliances which may be promising in order to start fighting for control in this area. None of the players would be the same bloodline, but they'd form into a clan regardless, do you see what I mean?
With a story revolving around Elders (my previous post, in case you missed it) you would probably play Dekell and Shyn and all of their children (to varying degrees), and everyone else plays their elder, their bloodline, and their children. and then we all compete for power.
As I had mentioned that... is really, really low on my interests, but I might have to hit people to get them to see my way. you'd have to get some good players, and even then it'd be about evil pricks trying to gain more power... at least in the terms I'm thinking of. Much more interesting to play younger, more human vamps, and have the main conflicts about growing up and dealing with other groups- both other vampires, and other races- but again, YMMV
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 4:42 pm
What does YMMV stand for? gonk
I am very interested in having young vampires, but I feel old vampires can remain humane if they have a reason to try to. My main reason for that is they were once and will always be human. (And they don't have to be emo. blaugh )
I completely get what you mean about people on Gaia playing over powered vampires, however this guild does decrease that worry for me. Plus I get to read the bios myself for the vampires. ^_^ I'm a fan of vampires and I'm a fan of dramatic character development. I hate when people ruin either, so over powered vampires are something I don't think will be an issue and if they are they will be dealt with swiftly. (And Twi-fail vampires are right out.)
The role play is about trying to fit in to the real world, trying to stay connected as a human. The face it wears to make it a role play is just vampires and other creatures. Why I don't find age to be a huge deal in this is mostly because everyone takes their own time to mature, then they get to a point and sometimes they nearly need to start all over again. You do one thing for so long, then the times change, the people change and so do you. The main idea is almost not about vampires, but I'm using vampires to highlight those themes. I use vampires because I find them so awesome when done well. 3nodding
I thank you so much for the help on trying to set down a firm plot, but I think I still don't have anything more that I want. Since we couldn't think of something and since I'm aiming for one or two more players to start, I still have time to lay down a concrete idea.
Let me know if you think of anything that fits into my theme. 4laugh
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 5:16 pm
[You might have missed my post right before your bloodline one. I used it there, but YMMV= your mileage may vary. similar to In My Opinion.]
Okay, I see where you're coming from. I can't play vampires that way, but that's just me. I feel that what is core to the vampire in modern fantasy is that they don't change. they can't change. They will always be the person they were when they died, and the more the world changes, the more that hate being alive. .... well, maybe not exactly. my vampires do change in some ways, but always for the worse.
I'm going to be honest, I don't know if I'm going to be of any more use. I would not know the first thing about a role-play who's main theme is trying to be human in a dark world. It sounds good, and I can offer to come up with horrible situations to put the characters through, but... My vampire stories are of a much different venue. My stories in general... aren't up that alley.
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 5:57 pm
That's fine. 4laugh Thank you so much for all the help you've given! *hugs*
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Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 3:55 pm
Mokole for the win...>___>
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Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 4:28 pm
Somebody else posted! I don't feel all that alone anymore! Yay! But...It had nothing to do with my character so...Booo...
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