San Francisco by Night
Ask the Storyteller
If you are a player in the game, you may ask the Master Storyteller specific questions
6. How can I get a non-official power approved? Do you favor certain characters over other characters?
I allow characters to develop unique powers if it seems appropriate. For example, Mages can develop rotes, Vampire Thaumaturgist can develop rituals, Vampire Elders can develop unique variations of Elder powers, and so forth. I follow a standard procedure in approving new powers. I post them in public forums, like the White Wolf newsgroup, and ask for feedback. Generally speaking, if no one in the forum has a problem with a power, then I approve it. If people raise issues, then I will most likely alter the power or deny it. Since I don't consider myself a know-it-all expert on WW, then I prefer getting opinions from a variety of skilled, knowledgeable people. If a character develops an approved official power, then that power is to be developed by all other characters.
5. All the older characters are much more powerful than me? It's not fair!! What can I do about it?
Older characters will be more powerful than newer characters. That is fair. However, some characters have been created using Elder rules while others have used standard rules. To make a realistic WoD, we felt we needed some Elders to start the game. It was first come, first served. And that was fair. But the frustration that you feel is easily understood. The good news is that the rules are set-up so that a player has it totally within his ability to correct any power inequalities fairly quickly.
First, Elder Vampires pay higher cost for increasing their abilities than other characters. This means that every day you play you are gaining on them. It also means that one day you will pass them and there is nothing they can do about it. Second, we reward activity. So if you play a lot you will accumulate more experience than them. Third, we have incentives for helping keep the game going. For example, you get 10 exp for every player you recruit who stays 30 days. A player who has been here less then 2 weeks has already recruited 4 new players. That is forty experience points. At this rate, within a month or two, her stats will equal those of the Elders.
Please keep in mind that many people purposely choose to play less powerful character types like mortals because the role-playing aspects appeal to them more than the roll-playing aspects.
4. Can a Vampire have True Faith?
True Faith is a merit included in VtM Revised on page 301. People hold various opinions of True Faith and merits in general. Justin Achilli, the Vampire Developer for WW, hates them and considers them nothing more than tools for Powergamers. Most people like them and this is why they are included in the rules. White Wolf has agreed to compromise their integrity to the economic gods as always.
Any character can have any merit/flaw that is part of the most recent edition. True Faith is available for any character that desires it, subject to its stated limitations. All characters have 15-20 Freebies to spend on anything they like (depending on the system used to generate their character), including Merits. If you want True Faith, it costs 7 points. Likewise, no character in the game has authority to purchase any merit/flaw that is also not available to every other character of his system. In other words, all characters are on an equal footing when it comes to merits/flaws.
3. Isn't it unrealistic to expect all members of a Clan to be related like they are in San Francisco?
First, by definition, all members of a clan are descended from the same Antediluvian (3rd Generation Vampire). We are simply saying that all the Vampires in the Bay Area (one very small area of the world) are descended from the same 5th or 6th generation character. If all the Gangrels in the entire world are descended from the 3rd Generation Gangrel, is it really such a stretch to say that all the Gangrels in the Bay Area are descended from one 5th generation character? Keep in mind there are very, very few 5th generation Gangrels in the world. Only 3-4 are mentioned in White Wolf books. The famous Gangrel Justicar, Xavier, was only 7th generation. In addition, in most of the Vampire source books that I own, most members of a Clan have direct linkage to one another. For example, the Ventrue Clan novel mentions 7 Ventrue in Baltimore. One is unrelated to the others. He is on special assignment from Europe to fight the Sabbat. The other 6 are the Prince, his three chylder, and 2 grand chylder.
Second, one of my hobbies is human genealogy. I can trace my family back several thousand years. And once you go back far enough, you find that we are come from the same pool of ancestors. Anyone who makes the argument that all humans in the same city aren't related is speaking from ignorance and has little knowledge about genealogy. The real issue is -- How far do you have to go back to find a common ancestor?
Therefore, is it unrealistic for every single Vampire of a Clan in one city to be descended from the same Elder? Perhaps for every single Vampire. However, it's certainly not unrealistic for most of them to be related to the Elder. And before we required linkages, almost no one was related. Having all Clan members related is far more realistic than having none of them.
In addition, the main reason we went to required linkages is because none of the clan members were playing together. This is certainly unrealistic. All in all, I believe our approach closely matches the intent of the White Wolf system.
2. Is there a limit to the number of chylder a character can sire?
There are presently no game rule limits to how many chylder a character may sire. In theory, a 5th generation character could build an army of 6th generation chylder to help him take over the game. Two in-character limits will tend to curtail this effort:
(1) The Prince will probably not allow a large number of low generation chylder. He or she will most like invoke the Third Tradition: The Progeny. As stated in the Guide to the Camarilla (p. 23), "wise princes enforce the Third Tradition ruthlessly." In addition, other Elders will start becoming wary of another Elder so openly gathering a power base. These other Elders will likely gather together to destroy the offending soul.
(2) Most characters will be unwilling to sire large amounts of chylder, for fear they will band together and overthrow him. Certainly Sabbat Elders will be very wary of siring low-generation chylder considering how strongly the Sabbat promotes Diablerie.
If neither of these two limits works in the game, the ST will step in and alter the rules. We want a realistic Word of Darkness setting.
1. You have six 5th Generation characters in the game. Why did you allow such powerful characters into the game? Will you allow me to play one?
This chronicle has been created to be perpetual and ongoing. To facilitate certain long-term planning aspects, we have allowed some 5th and 6th generation Vampires into the game to seed their Clan. We will never again allow a new 5th or 6th generation character. If the present 5th or 6th generation characters are killed or leave the game, they will not be replaced. The only way for new characters to become 5th or 6th generation is to be sired in character as such or lower their effective generation through Diablerie. If one of the Thirteen Clans is totally eliminated from the game, the Clan will be reseeded with a 7th generation character.
On a long-term basis, our intent is to only have a few 5th and 6th generation characters. We believe that the forces of entropy will consume the present 5th and 6th generation characters slowly over time. Within a few months, the only ones left will be those who are played properly. These few remaining Elders will offer some special role-playing opportunities to other characters.