I am starting my first VtM chronicle tomorrow and I'm super excited. I've been running A Song of Ice and Fire with my D&D buddies successfully and its always been the masterplan to get down the RPG pipeline and hit VtM and OWoD. We will be playing v5 but of course with imports from v20. Dementation and Vicissitude are a must. Thanks for the last minute tips! I am a pretty chaotic ST and its very grounding :D
Regarding your problem of giving a game-breaking magic item, I prefer game systems that are based on consistent core math and that have well-defined guidance on what goodies you can insert into your game without breaking it. My current favorite is Pathfinder 2nd Ed. Also, even if you're running a system where the math can be more swingy, you can still modify things behind the screen so that all the players have a fun experience.
This summer I'll begin my first VtM chronicle, and I have an idea for the main plot to basically be two completely different main conflicts, one connected more with Camarilla (Closer to murder mystery) and the other with the Sabbat (Basically a race between the players and Sabbat agents to seize two very important items). I'm not planning for the two to be connected, but I'll lead players on a little so they think these are connected and despite being unrelated one plan's success might disrupt the others. The problem is, I'm a bit afraid of players potentially not engaging with the intrigue to figure out these plots, instead just assuming I'm gonna lead them to a preplanned ending of the campaign. I don't like running games that way, I want players to act, figure things out, beat the challenges I put in their way and make their own ending. I'll try to encourage them to make lots of notes, maybe that'll help, that's a good idea from this video. It'll also be pretty funny if they end up discovering at a super early point who the murderer is.
I disagree with a lot of what was said. First do not provide solutions to your players. This is not a video game nor is it a movie. Create problems with no solution. This why your player will create the solution with what they have. This feels immensly fun as Storyteller because you don't know what is going to happen and you cannot reject a perfectly valid idea because it does not fit with the narrative you made. Second of all energy. Please don't be a keeper of the energy of the group you will be exhausted by the end. And furthermore. You are not responsable of people's happiness. If they don't feel well or they arn't having fun its not a problem they should not play. You are not the slave of your players emotion. Especially in vtm you can be hurting their feeling and putting them in situation where they will not have fun. They will experience dread, sadness, wrath, vengeance etc... joy is one emotion don't make your game only about joy and pleasure because it will be boring. Concerning the atitude to be enthuthiastic is indeed enssential but making gestures all over the place especially in vtm can be detrimental to the characters you portrait. I would advise to create postures for different characters and get physical with your player, get behind their back and put your hands on the shoulders of the team leader when you portray someone in negociation for exemple. Or take the hand of a player to make an apology for a NPC. But wild gesture is a bit over the top. As a general advice for VTm i would say that you need to have written lines of prepared comeback for certain characters. Harpies can be nasty and so preparing some verbal comeback to humiliate or hurt the reputation of your player can create tension. You will have to prepare some dialogue beetween npcs as well so be sure to use your grammar and your tone. Slurs and habit of speech like finishing sentences with : ya know what'i'm saying... To reprensent a certain character is key for npc to npc dialog. Finally to play the storyteller properly you have to create the beast. An alter ego of your player. This is the worst they can be. And don't be shy to use their own action against them the voice of the beast telling them they could do this crime all over again. The beast must feel like a terrifying unbeatable vilain. It's who the players are now. Anyway thats my thoughts on vampire the mascarade and how you should play it.
This info is applicable to any edition you want to run. We run v5 because we like the dice system that uses but because we have been playing VtM for 20 years our games are a mix of all the editions. 😆
This does not seem like a world of darkness talk. This seems like DM. Ing in general. I am only interested in old world of darkness. I don't know why TH-cam keeps sending me Random items that are only loosely related
VTM is so very different from D&D, I have all the mechanics down, but this was a help, thanks guys, earned a sub.
I am starting my first VtM chronicle tomorrow and I'm super excited. I've been running A Song of Ice and Fire with my D&D buddies successfully and its always been the masterplan to get down the RPG pipeline and hit VtM and OWoD. We will be playing v5 but of course with imports from v20. Dementation and Vicissitude are a must. Thanks for the last minute tips! I am a pretty chaotic ST and its very grounding :D
Good luck and great to hear! More VtM content coming out after a run a session at Adepticon!
Regarding your problem of giving a game-breaking magic item, I prefer game systems that are based on consistent core math and that have well-defined guidance on what goodies you can insert into your game without breaking it. My current favorite is Pathfinder 2nd Ed. Also, even if you're running a system where the math can be more swingy, you can still modify things behind the screen so that all the players have a fun experience.
This summer I'll begin my first VtM chronicle, and I have an idea for the main plot to basically be two completely different main conflicts, one connected more with Camarilla (Closer to murder mystery) and the other with the Sabbat (Basically a race between the players and Sabbat agents to seize two very important items). I'm not planning for the two to be connected, but I'll lead players on a little so they think these are connected and despite being unrelated one plan's success might disrupt the others.
The problem is, I'm a bit afraid of players potentially not engaging with the intrigue to figure out these plots, instead just assuming I'm gonna lead them to a preplanned ending of the campaign. I don't like running games that way, I want players to act, figure things out, beat the challenges I put in their way and make their own ending.
I'll try to encourage them to make lots of notes, maybe that'll help, that's a good idea from this video. It'll also be pretty funny if they end up discovering at a super early point who the murderer is.
Thanks for the video! Love the content
thanks
I disagree with a lot of what was said. First do not provide solutions to your players. This is not a video game nor is it a movie.
Create problems with no solution. This why your player will create the solution with what they have. This feels immensly fun as Storyteller because you don't know what is going to happen and you cannot reject a perfectly valid idea because it does not fit with the narrative you made.
Second of all energy. Please don't be a keeper of the energy of the group you will be exhausted by the end. And furthermore. You are not responsable of people's happiness. If they don't feel well or they arn't having fun its not a problem they should not play. You are not the slave of your players emotion. Especially in vtm you can be hurting their feeling and putting them in situation where they will not have fun. They will experience dread, sadness, wrath, vengeance etc... joy is one emotion don't make your game only about joy and pleasure because it will be boring.
Concerning the atitude to be enthuthiastic is indeed enssential but making gestures all over the place especially in vtm can be detrimental to the characters you portrait. I would advise to create postures for different characters and get physical with your player, get behind their back and put your hands on the shoulders of the team leader when you portray someone in negociation for exemple. Or take the hand of a player to make an apology for a NPC. But wild gesture is a bit over the top.
As a general advice for VTm i would say that you need to have written lines of prepared comeback for certain characters. Harpies can be nasty and so preparing some verbal comeback to humiliate or hurt the reputation of your player can create tension.
You will have to prepare some dialogue beetween npcs as well so be sure to use your grammar and your tone. Slurs and habit of speech like finishing sentences with : ya know what'i'm saying...
To reprensent a certain character is key for npc to npc dialog.
Finally to play the storyteller properly you have to create the beast. An alter ego of your player. This is the worst they can be. And don't be shy to use their own action against them the voice of the beast telling them they could do this crime all over again. The beast must feel like a terrifying unbeatable vilain. It's who the players are now.
Anyway thats my thoughts on vampire the mascarade and how you should play it.
Is this live if so v5 or v20 ?
This info is applicable to any edition you want to run. We run v5 because we like the dice system that uses but because we have been playing VtM for 20 years our games are a mix of all the editions. 😆
Get better players. PCs having to be bribed to make effort is a fault of the PCs.
This does not seem like a world of darkness talk. This seems like DM. Ing in general. I am only interested in old world of darkness. I don't know why TH-cam keeps sending me Random items that are only loosely related