It would be really handy to know if Masquerade worked with the Lost 2nd and if not directly compatible is there some info on how or why not. This sale is great and being able to get the PDF and an actual copy is fantastic; but not if I don't See more know what I am really ordering. If you know what you are getting 9like a module or setting and understand you will need to do some converting to the edition you like.
Some of the things just do not convert well. I love your work; but I have order some books that are just to far out of whack for compatibility.
It really makes me hesitant to buy more. There is a plague going on! I would really like to use my cloistered time to get it all together! Any help, much appreciated. Keep up the great work. You'll find a lot more material for this one but it is a different setting entirely. Whats the diffrance between the Heavy weight and the standard hardcover? The Standard uses a lighter paper. Also, they are not full bleed which means there is a small white border around each page. Personally, I have purchased both and they are both great quality, but I do prefer the Premium as I like my color more vibrant and the paper a bit heavier.
If you're looking for a break in cost, it won't kill to go standard. It happens. I don't mind starting over from scratch but I'm afraid repurchasing everything only to find out the character sheet or some other minutia is all that has changed would leave me somewhat nonplussed, as that's money I could be spending to expand rather than start over.
I guess what I'm asking is does OPP represent a true continuation or is it See more a new beginning? Thanks, R. Thanks R. Reinvigorated to be sure. Sounds like ya'll have been busy. I know there are those who are really into game mechanics, but that's always been secondary to nonexistent for me personally.
For me, that moves the story better. So, sounds fun. I'm in. I'll be driving back thru next payday. Oh, and thank goodness ya'll got to the bottom of that little language snafu! Tres gauche Hello, Requiem 2nd Ed is being described as "A complete guide to playing a vampire in the World of Darkness.
No other rulebooks are required. I have yet been able to confirm that. You certainly have everything you need to play with just that book. Any other books are optional as ons. I just recieved my print on demand copy, as usual it took pretty much a month to come in, but also unfortunately, it, like all print on demand HC's I've ordered from Drivethru masquerade 20, werewolf 20 and now requiem 2nd edition has come in with huge gouges and damage along the cover due to the shipping methods.
For the money I'm paying I'd like to think it's get things in the condition they'd be off the shelf at my local gaming store. This has been my 1 criticism with Onyx Path since they decided to go down the POD path and not traditionally bound. So for now Im going to stick to pdfs, which I can also share with my gaming group. My big hope now that Paradox Games has purchased the White Wolf IP is that they will return to a traditional model of printing.
The spine cracked and broke the first time I opened it!!! At this point, POD is only to be used for soft back books. This POD system is just terrible. I much preferred buying my books in the store.
Sad, but true. I am on the fence so far and i would like to preview it first. But can i find a changelog between the 2 versions somewhere please? Thanks a lot R. B The index is very very very usefull!!!
I gonna check the conditions appendix soon. As english is not my native language, i'm not sure i really undertand this sentence relative to Mekhet Clan Bane : "This bane counts toward the three banes a vampire is allowed". But is he allowed ultimately 3 or 4 banes other than collectives banes? I tried translators on internet but the meaning of "toward" is unclear to me. I still have a doubt. In my idea it seems that a Mekhet can't have more than 3 individuals banes neither, like other clans but must have at least one of them well and that's a good thing as 3 banes tend to be very difficult to play!!!
You get three and this is one of those three. It says I don't own this now. Is there any way to get a copy of the new and improved PDF? For the love of God, why is there no index in this book!? Did they fix bugs from earlier version?
I mean, if I'll take PoD now - will it be the exact version of book, that was released in december, or better version with errata? I just want to organize my library guys.
Are any of the books in the Requiem line made obsolete rules wise by this book? Other than the core book. Mechanics for creating Half-Damned characters.
Information for creating and running chronicles using the various Half-Damned character types, both with vampires and alone. My mother would show up every few years and suddenly be very into my life. She would take me out of school to take trips with her, or buy me anything I wanted, but she never really listened to me when I tried to talk to her.
Information on Half-Damned antagonists for vampire chronicles. In addition, a cosmopolitan coterie offers diversity, which is often an advantage. Different covenants tend to appeal to characters with different strengths and weaknesses, and as the Lancea Sanctum and the Invictus demonstrated before the collapse of the Camarilla, those strengths can thrive in concert.
Cooperation between people who complement each other often leads to a greater whole. For example, the Carthians are often quite good at working with mortals, but they tend to neglect the spiritual aspect of unlife, whereas the devotion of the Sanctified to their spiritual side tends to separate them from mortals.
For Storytellers, a mixed-covenant coterie offers a number of story options, both obvious and less so. Each covenant has its own internal politicking and social dynamics, and it is easy to imagine the kind of tumult that can arise if outsiders are brought into the mix. Imagine a devout Acolyte who tries to rise in the hierarchy while her Ordo Dracul coterie-mate constantly tries to witness the rituals of the Circle.
Think of how the other Dragons might react when the entire coterie including a Carthian firebrand and an Invictus pragmatist tags along for a social affair. The Storyteller can also play on the paranoia of hard-line covenant members who fear that a cosmopolitan coterie might reveal covenant secrets to outsiders. He can also create stories centered around trying to reconcile differing ideologies, possibly in the light of a citywide cold war between one or more coteries.
One of the strengths of a cosmopolitan coterie is that most chronicle ideas that work for a single-covenant coterie can be applied to one of mixed members with even more interesting results.
For example, if you have prepared a chronicle that focuses on spiritual awareness, then the threat of political infighting might be too high and ultimately might detract from an otherwise singular theme. The other chapters of this book show the rewards of a more focused group and some of the pitfalls of a more diverse coterie are discussed in this chapter. In the end, it is a good idea for you to examine the theme, mood and goals of your chronicle and talk with the players before ultimately allowing or denying cosmopolitan coteries.
In most domains, any coterie that has members from more than one covenant is considered a cosmopolitan coterie.
Some coteries have several members from a single covenant and only one member from another, however, which is not always cosmopolitan coteries Psychology and Formation A number of reasons exist for why Kindred might seek the company of those outside their covenant. Recognition from before the Embrace, clan considerations, common interests, orders from above and a whole host of other factors can result in one or more Kindred from different covenants forming a coterie.
Recognition The Embrace is likely the most harrowing and intense experience a person will ever experience, and it thrusts a neonate into a whole new world in which everything she knew and believed is challenged. A neonate struggling to come to terms with what she has become is in a very fragile state of mind. As such, a familiar face might be just the kind of anchor one needs in this Damned condition, no matter how obscure or far removed that familiar face was in life.
Occasionally, very recently Embraced Kindred form short-term coteries across covenant boundaries when they recognize each other. This recognition runs all the way from having been actual friends before the Embrace to co-workers who rarely spoke to neonates who recognize each other because they frequented the same grocer to something as fragile as having gone to the same high school.
Generally, the closer the new Kindred were in their former existence, the lower the chances are of such an Embrace happening. While stories do circulate of sires Embracing friends or even siblings or Kindred who are allies each embracing one side of a closely connected pair , this is so rare as to be almost nonexistent. It is rare for a prospective sire to find something useful or appealing about both sides of a relationship and few vampires want to go to such lengths to comfort a new childe anyway.
As such, neonates who were close before the Embrace are more often than not the result of pure chance. Lesser familiarity happens somewhat more often, however, though mainly in smaller cities. The characters might know chapter one considered a cosmopolitan coterie. This mainly happens when one covenant is clearly dominant in a domain and a coterie counts most of its members from that covenant. In other domains, two or more covenants are so strongly allied that coteries containing members from only those covenants are not seen as cosmopolitan coteries.
Sometimes, a coterie contains only two members, both from different covenants, and that is not always considered a cosmopolitan coterie either.
Presented here are just some of the reasons a cosmopolitan coterie might form; several other reasons might apply. For example, the members of the coterie might be the only neonates in a small city. Their sires might all be in the same cosmopolitan coterie and expect their childer to join together as well.
Recognition need not even be this strong for some neonates to bond. Being fans of the same sports team, having interest in the same hobby, having the same taste in music or enjoying a passion for local history are all reasons neonate Kindred band together.
They might be only grasping at straws, but with the loss of humanity and the transition to vampirism, something solid often creates comfort. Working with these ideas might be a good idea during character creation, if the players and Storyteller are trying to come up with ideas for why the coterie formed. Sometimes, this familiarity results in a tighter focus for the coterie. For example, a coterie made up of musicians might end up forming a band, which gives them access to resources and contacts on the club and performance scene but makes them visible and threatens the secrecy that Kindred try to maintain.
A coterie whose members are all passionate about animal rights might spend time demonstrating and conducting awareness rallies and even seeking a mentor in an older Kindred — or at least trying to, possibly making an enemy who resents the intrusion of these annoying neonates. Characters might also join together due to associations from the very early nights of their Embrace.
Their sires could be allies, even in the same coterie, or they might just meet for chess once a month. And then, once the characters are released from their sires, they might gravitate to the other neonates they remember from their first, confusing nights. Such relationships are very much impacted by the experiences of those first encounters and not necessarily by the impressions left by the other neonates.
Or a neonate might gravitate to a remembered face, even though she associates it with harsh comments made by her sire to the sire of that remembered face about her own potential. Coteries based on recognition from before or just after the Embrace rarely last beyond a few years, since the anchor is no longer needed once a neonate has come to terms with her new existence. Such coteries break up as the members recognize that all that is really holding them together is nothing more than nostalgia.
As they become more sophisticated, their mutual inexperience is no longer sufficient to bind them together. The amount of time needed for such a break varies immensely, depending on the personalities of the Kindred involved. Many times, a dissolution of such a coterie comes because one of the members decides to establish dominance, becoming the leader.
Sometimes this works, but often, it results in a split or bitter infighting. Yet such coteries do not always break up. Sometimes, members of such a coterie form real bonds of amiability as much so as Kindred can or discover a common interest.
Some realize that they have managed to accomplish a lot by working together. The band mentioned before might decide that the cosmopolitan coteries money and access to fans from whom to feed outweighs whatever minor differences the coterie might experience. A coterie founded on past association or erstwhile common interests is rarely as strong as one founded out of genuine need or a common goal or interest discovered later in unlife.
They do, however, provide players and Storytellers a quick, easy and believable way of creating a coterie across covenant boundaries.
In the case of a coterie formed due to a common interest, it can create any number of story hooks for the Storyteller. For example, to continue with the band, the Storyteller could build a chronicle about the difficulties that arise when the band becomes successful. The characters also have to explain why they keep saying no to daytime interviews. The Prince might even be worried that the group threatens to expose vampires to mortal scrutiny. Kindred can, however, choose their covenant in all but the most oppressive domains and as such, covenant loyalty tends to outstrip clan loyalty among Kindred.
That being said, events do occur when Kindred might have different ideas about Kindred society at large, as defined by the covenant they belong to, but be in agreement with their clanmates within the city. Since newly Embraced Kindred often become members of the same covenant as their sires, they might choose to seek out others of their clan rather than join coteries within their own covenant, especially if they find themselves having differences with some of the ideology of their own covenant.
Young Kindred might believe that they have more in common with those of their own clan than those of their covenant — and are often disappointed. While a few common traits can be applied to members of a certain clan, differences are likely to be at least as broad as differences between varying clans in the same covenant. In cities where certain clans have come to present common fronts and many opportunities exist for clans to meet, however, newly Embraced Kindred sometimes form coteries simply because they are the new kids on the block within a certain clan.
Such single-clan, cross-covenant coteries present opportunities for both the players and Storyteller to examine the position of the various clans in different factions. Storytellers can also craft stories focusing on the single-clan aspect across covenant boundaries. Occasionally multi-covenant, mixed clan coteries form due to some alliance of clans. In a city where the Ventrue and Sire Relations Sometimes, cosmopolitan coteries are more or less forced together due to their sires being allies or oven in the same coterie.
Usually, the sires they work together on something, be it a business venture, a political endeavor or a large research project. The business or project then grows so large that competent and diverse help is needed, so new childer are Embraced and expected to work together to further the designs of their sires. While the advantages are obvious once again, the strength of diversity , problems often arise.
This kind of coterie is also likely to include more than the normal amount of backstabbing, since the various members are competing with each other to look good to their sires. Kindred who are Embraced solely to fulfill once single function might even grow to resent their sires. Both for players and Storytellers, this kind of coterie offers a wealth of opportunities. First and foremost, there is the ready and easy reason for why a somewhat diverse group of Kindred work together, even if they do not always get along.
Players have an excuse to create very competent individuals within their chosen field. Playing someone who 17 is forced to cooperate with people he does not like creates built-in conflict, which makes for a compelling roleplaying challenge. For example, imagine a coterie consisting of members of the Invictus, Carthian Movement and Lancea Sanctum respectively a Ventrue, Nosferatu and Daeva who are heavily involved in a string of antiques businesses and an auction house.
As a result, the characters have revenue, scholarly contacts and a chance to get their hands on rare books and antiquities. Their business grows large over time, and they decide that they need competent childer to manage part of their business. The Invictus Ventrue Embraces a scholar who is an expert on old books, the Carthian Nosferatu makes a security expert his childe, and the Daeva Embraces a young woman who excelled in business school.
If the coterie succeeds, the characters have the opportunity for an excellent start to their own business venture. Should they fail, though, they will likely face the combined wrath of their sires. For the players of the characters, the challenges are the interaction between the widely different characters and facing the business demands of the sires.
For the Storyteller, this set-up provides ample opportunity to not only have the character fend off business rivals and struggle to acquire even more varied and interesting books, but also to explore the different ways in which the three covenants do business and the different approach each covenant has to the business at hand. A coterie of Ventrue and Daeva might then come together to preserve the alliance and power of these clans across all the covenants.
Such alliances have both merits and flaws. Most obviously, they create a polarization that could end in more or less open warfare between clans and covenants, something most Kindred actively seek to avoid. Additionally, such monolithic politics often result in the subornation of the individual, and not every character wants to play a cog in the greater machine as the political existence of the unaligned attests.
In the preceding example, the Mekhet will be excellent spies to gather dirt on the opposition, while the Gangrel might help when the Ventrue and Daeva manipulate a local gang into attacking Mekhet holdings. On the flip side, the Daeva can lend their vast social acumen to the pragmatic, businesslike approach for which the Ventrue are famed, making the alliance deadly when it comes to securing vital influence. In the end, however, such clan alliances tend to break up in the face of covenant and personal pressure.
After all, covenants tend to place considerations of clan and individual agendas secondary to those of the institution. In such a situation, a mixed-clan coterie could easily be in danger of angering the high-ranking members of their covenant, should they persist.
Sometimes, coteries form on the basis of such interests. One of the most common interests that draws Kindred from several covenants together is an interest in Kindred history and occult lore. Those Kindred who wonder about the origins of the clans, the purpose of the Kindred and the beginning of the covenants often congregate to share findings and assist each other. While not all such gatherings are coteries in the strictest sense, coteries frequently form based upon these relationships.
These coteries might be viewed with some suspicion from insular covenant members and leaders who fear that covenant secrets might be revealed to outsiders, but startling revelations sometimes come out of this cooperation. A Kindred from one covenant might manage to compare notes on a section of an obscure Kindred chapter one text with scholars from other covenants, shedding light on an unsolved mystery. While few Kindred are willing to share all or even some of their sacred rituals, a number of curious scholars might be willing to share some details of these rites and esoteric knowledge in the name of research.
This cooperation need not always be about rituals and magic either. Knowledge of other supernatural creatures, such as werewolves and spirits and mortal mages is also debated and shared. In most domains, such coteries must either meet in secret or be content with siginificant supervision by covenant leaders who do not want proprietary secrets to be shared with outsiders.
This can lead to a rather suspenseful chronicle, where the characters must do their best not to be discovered by the higher-ranking members of their covenants. History is by no means the only thing that draws Kindred together, however.
Sometimes, something as seeming innocuous as a classical game or collecting rare items is enough to unite a group of Kindred. The basic need for survival is also a common reason for a cosmopolitan coterie to form. If several Kindred, especially neonates, manage to make the same powerful vampire their enemy or inherit this enemy from their sires , they might decide that drawing together lessens the chance of any single one of them being targeted.
The sins of the sire also tend to be transferred to childer, so if, for instance, a group of Kindred manages to make enemies of a political faction that fails, or the group is subjected to a blood hunt, their childer would do well to stick together.
This is especially true if their sires are more interested in saving their own hides than trying to help their childer. From such a simple introduction, complex stories can arise.
Does the young coterie run for it, despite all the dangers of traveling? Do the characters lie low, waiting for the storm to blow over? Do they face their enemy, hoping to settle the score with one mighty blow? Do they sell out their sires and hope for the best?
And what if one member decides to sell out the others? What if a high-ranking member of one covenant offers sanctuary to the characters… provided they all join said covenant? Kindred who are drawn together for survival in the face of overwhelming odds tend to stick quite closely together, with strong bonds of loyalty forming through the hardship.
Notions of solidarity grow and can result in a strong, united coterie. Yet what happens when the threat is over? Do the Kindred still stick together, or do they suddenly realize that they have little in common — or even grow sick of the sight of each other? If the latter happens, a breakup can often be quite dramatic. United they stand, divided they face destruction.
For example, Kindred who have lost sires, lovers or confidantes to another coterie might decide to unite in order to exact revenge upon that coterie. If members of a certain coterie have made enemies of a number of different Kindred, these Kindred could join together to better fight their opponents. If the political climate is one of allies and enemies, coteries of allies often come together to oppose the other side. When opposing a common enemy, strength in numbers is just one of the possible rewards.
Each member might bring some kind of information about the enemy to the group, and diversity means more strengths and more allies to compensate for weaknesses. Such coteries rarely last beyond the current struggle if closer bonds fail to develop.
If neonates have joined together to take care of the deranged unbound elder who has killed their sires in his quest for Vitae, then they have little reason to stay together after this elder has been destroyed.
On the other hand, sometimes genuine bonds of kinship and respect form through such tribulation. Does this mean that the coterie is offered a chance to earn prestige or resources when this Kindred asks for help with a little problem he has, or does it spell trouble when the paranoid elder decides that the coterie is just a little too competent?
Joining together to stop the enemy of a sire or ally is a rather straightforward approach, but deeper ulterior motives are often at work. Such a scheme often requires Kindred from several different covenants, in order to gain insight into possible threats to vampires.
It is also obviously dangerous, especially if one of the members of the coterie decides to turn on the others. If it succeeds, however, it will not only mean a reward for the coterie, it will also give the characters a wonderful reason to stick together. None of them can really trust the others not to come clean at some point, so mutually assured silence might be quite advisable. For example, consider a cosmopolitan coterie made up of a single member of each of the five major covenants.
One member is a childe of an influential elder who happens to be a rival of the Prince. This Kindred hatches a plan to wring some favors out of her sire, with the help of her new allies. Drawing upon various connections in the covenants, the coterie begins to spread rumors about a coup attempt being planned by the elder in question.
At the same time, another member of the coterie hires an independent Kindred to attack the elder. A group of young Kindred who all have substantial knowledge of computers and electronics might be gathered by their sires to sabotage the businesses of an undead rival. Often, such missions come with some form of payment, even if it is just recognition and a chance to rise in the hierarchy of the city or covenant.
In addition, practically inclined Kindred see this as an opportunity to learn from others, presumably competent others. Even if there is no reward, the threat of punishment or censure from above might force Kindred who dislike or even hate each other to work together in strict or oppressive domains.
Such a focused coterie presents a number of options for interesting play. Complications might also arise. For example, the newly formed coterie might decide that however much they dislike each other, they dislike being ordered around even less, so they scheme together to get back at whoever forced them into confidence. Then, when the mercenary Kindred attacks, the coterie arrives to save the elder before he realizes that the threat is not as dire as he assumed, neatly destroying the unaligned Kindred in the process.
Such situations can be many and varied. Maybe the characters are required to scour the ranks of society in their domain in search of a criminal Kindred who eluded the sheriff by going to ground. Maybe strange, magical happenings at local cemeteries require a team of scholars and occultists.
Release the Hounds A variation on the coterie focused on a mandated single purpose is a coterie dedicated to assisting the Sheriff. Such a chapter one 20 group is usually formed by orders from above, though a Sheriff might approach individual Kindred or an entire coterie and ask for assistance, effectively deputizing the characters. Both positions of Sheriff and Hound have immense potential for stepping on the toes of other covenants.
If one covenant holds sway over a domain, the other covenants might suspect the Prince of using the Sheriff and Hounds to silence rivals for power.
In domains where the power is more evenly distributed, the Sheriff and Hounds must do their best to appear as neutral as possible. At the same time, both positions might require the assistance of someone who possesses skills that they do not have, or simply require more people to tackle a potentially dangerous situation.
Of course, that might not actually be the truth at all. Some Princes truly see the benefit of having a cosmopolitan coterie helping the Sheriff and Hound, though. Of course, the altruistic ideal of involving all the covenants equally is understandably rare among Kindred society. More often than not, the Sheriff chooses his Hounds based somewhat on prevailing covenant alliances. As such, a Hound might decide to show leniency to members of her covenant and allied covenants while arranging for less ideally suited Kindred from other covenants to represent those covenants among the other Hounds.
This can create quite an interesting coterie, where everybody is supposed to be working together toward a common goal and complement each other, yet where the reality is much different. Some take to the job at hand easily, while others blunder along, making their covenant look bad by association.
The coterie is usually put together in such a way as to be able to support the Sheriff in areas that might not be her strength, though Kindred with an undeniable talent that can be put to use might also find themselves offered a position in such a coterie. Once again, partisan interests might take over and someone who does not have the skills needed are drafted for a job with the express purpose of making her covenant look bad.
It gets even worse if said courtiers are rivals or even direct enemies. They now have a chance to impress the Prince, gain an ally in the Sheriff and maybe even frame their rivals but only if they can put aside their differences, improvise in the many areas where they are lacking and avoid making complete fools of themselves.
Hounds and their coteries tend to be made up mainly of muscle, with a few people who know how to track and travel. Such coteries are far less common than the coteries that directly support the Sheriff, if for no other reason that the Prince and Primogen prefer that as few people as possible know about whom they eliminate. If a city includes Kindred with an aggressive bent, Princes sometimes try to include them among the Hounds in order to give them a focus for their aggression.
And if they have some useful skill, even better. While some might see this as selling out and many others might only respect them out of fear, these are small considerations for coteries willing to take any path to power. Of course, sometimes a coterie that helps the powers that be is put together from Kindred with vastly different outlooks on the matter at hand.
Some might be bootlickers who are either given the position as a reward or assigned the position by some title-holder in the hopes that they will screw up.
The coterie must either overcome its internal differences or face failure, with consequences for both sides. The characters will need to trust each other despite their different views, sometimes even to the point of leaving their Requiems in the hands of their potential enemies. Sometimes, however, a coterie dedicated to assisting the Sheriff forms independently.
If the characters succeed, they have a chance to gain recognition and possibly rewards, but if they fail, they stand to make things very difficult for themselves. Kindred in official positions rarely take kindly to amateurs complicating their affairs. Sticking Together While single-goal coteries make for fine short stories, what about longer-spanning chronicles?
If the coterie was formed with a single, set goal in mind, what happens when its members achieve that goal? Sometimes, a coterie does stay together after it has achieved the purpose at hand. On the other hand, they might have recognized just how efficient they are together and decided to make the arrangement permanent. Sometimes, more sinister motives arise. Maybe, during the course of the mission, one of the members gained some hold over the others.
As a result, this Kindred now demands that the coterie stay together and that she be recognized as the leader. Another nasty option is that whomever the characters performed the service for now wants them dead. During the course of their duty, they might have learned something that their erstwhile benefactor does not want to become public knowledge. This leaves the characters with no option but to stick together in order to survive and deal with their new enemy. If the characters were given a reward, this reward might be a reason to stick together.
If an influential Kindred grants the characters significant interest in one of his own endeavors as a reward for a dangerous job, the coterie might not be willing to divide up the payment. The characters might decide to stick together and reap the profits of their new resource instead. If the Storyteller decides from the start to extend the story beyond a single objective, it is a good idea to make plans for keeping the characters solvent after the problem forcing them together is resolved.
One good idea is to make sure that the players create characters who will not instantly dislike each other such as an arrogant, high-society snob being forced to work with an Embraced dock worker and devoted union man.
While minor differences can be worked around, and will likely lead to rewarding group dynamics, major trouble between the characters can end up stretching the suspension of disbelief just a little too far in the end. Also a good idea is to make sure that the characters have abilities, advantages or interests outside the role they play in 21 the coterie or that one of the other characters might see use for whatever abilities brought the Kindred into the group.
A character with his sights set on becoming a Harpy might not have any interest in sticking with the coterie after the objective is completed, but if he learns that one of the other members is a historian with plenty of dirt on local ancillae and elders, he might just stay. The Storyteller can also devise events that lead to the coterie wanting to stick together after the initial situation concludes. A common enemy or reward or a realization of the advantages of working together are all good reasons.
The Storyteller might set up the story so that the characters are guaranteed to make at least one powerful enemy, or he could tailor the chronicle so that the players realize just how effective their characters are together. A shadowy mentor assembles a diverse group with a corporate expert, a hacker, an experienced burglar and a structural engineer. During the course of the job at hand, the characters not only manage to make an enemy of the elder whose business they are attacking, they also learn just what they are capable of when they put their various abilities to use in synergy.
As the clandestine cause draws to a close, they consider sticking together. This does not endear them to their mysterious employer, who fears what they can reveal if they ever discern his identity. As a result, a preemptive strike might be in order… chapter one At best, they might be censured or punished.
At worst, the Regent might have new subjects of his ire. With both success and failure come good reasons to stick together. If the characters fail, they share the blame and punishment and might find themselves unpopular with everyone but each other. If they succeed, an authority figure could make them the official Hounds. Embracing progeny represents a serious investment and a violation of the rules of the Kindred condition and is never done frivolously.
While a neonate might certainly rebel against her sire and this might be just the thing to drive her into a group of equally rebellious neonates , few Kindred are willing to brook consistent insubordination from their childer. They often have ways of ensuring cooperation, however unwilling, but if such cooperation cannot be assured, few Kindred are willing to destroy their childer outright.
Of course, sires with such attitudes might be just the kind of Kindred that foster resentment in childer, causing them to flee their draconian protective custody. Often, young Kindred who resent their sires meet at Kindred gatherings and conspire to break away, hoping that their respective sires will either be intimidated by the show of unity or simply decide not to retaliate if each childe has proven to have strong allies. Sires often look askance at childer who run off and join a cosmopolitan coterie, especially if the sire herself is part of a single-covenant coterie or one-clan brood — or if her childe joins a coterie that has members from covenants with which the sire has issues.
Yet sometimes a sire will demand her childe break with his new allies. At other times, the sire accepts the new arrangement and hopes for the best. One thing that is almost certain is that the sire will not simply disregard her childe though she might certainly consider the experience a lesson learned for any future childer she might Embrace.
The first is that she and probably her coteriemates too makes an enemy of her sire. Sometimes the sire is content to utterly ruin her childe socially and economically, perhaps hoping that said childe will come crawling back. Other times, the sire goes so far as to want her childe destroyed.
A more dramatic possibility is that a sire develops an animosity toward the rest of the coterie, perhaps thinking that they seduced away her childe. The sire might then monitor affairs in the hope that the coterie breaks up or possibly even try to destroy the others while her childe is otherwise occupied.
The second possibility is that the sire accepts the choice of her childe at least somewhat and decides to make the best of it. This can result in the entire coterie gaining a mentor or just an ally in this one sire. In this case, the sire might actually help the entire coterie if she feels that doing so would benefit her childe.
A number of story hooks can arise from sire interference in a coterie that consists mainly of rebellious childer. Sires might plot to pull the coterie apart, or they might clash, with one sire wanting to destroy the childer of others to drive her own childe back to her. Concerning the Covenants When considering cosmopolitan coteries, it is important to remember that covenants are not monolithic entities constantly involved in a shadow war against each other.
Certainly, the Lancea Sanctum and the Circle of the Crone have a degree of animosity toward each other and the hierarchical Invictus is strongly at odds with the egalitarianism espoused by the Carthians. By and large, though, the covenants realize that they must accept each other to avoid outright war — which only the self-destructive would want. Therefore, it is quite possible for coteries with members from different covenants to form and exist without any trouble.
After all, people with vastly different political and religious beliefs can and do become friends. Of course, mortals are not ageless being who slowly drift away from their humanity. Sure, all of the covenants have people who believe extremely strongly in the 22 cosmopolitan coteries party line, but such Kindred are rarely the type to join cosmopolitan coteries. On the other hand, throwing out the ideology and beliefs of a covenant simply to fit into a multi-covenant coterie is selling the covenants short.
Sure, the Sanctified character and the Ordo Dracul character have vastly different beliefs and might even end up arguing from time to time, but as long as this conflict does not split up the coterie, it poses more of a roleplaying opportunity than a problem.
Covenant by Covenant While no Kindred should be a walking stereotype, covenants do attract certain types of personalities, so some generalizations can be made. The following, however, are just that: generalizations.
They can serve as a good springboard for a character concept or a hook that a character might want to develop in relation to another covenant. The Carthian Movement Carthians are both the easiest and the hardest Kindred to get along with.
Their strong secular focus also tends to rankle the more devout members of the Lancea Sanctum and Circle of the Crone. On the other hand, younger Kindred, and those with no power, status or influence, are often intrigued by the Carthian ideal. After all, the equality of opportunity that the covenant proposes tends to resonate most strongly with those who stand to gain from it, rather than those who stand to loose. Those Kindred who join coteries with Carthians for reasons other than interest in their political ideals often find the Carthians trying allies.
Carthians are nothing if not willing to discuss politics and ideals, and this can quickly become taxing. Many young Kindred of other covenants speak with Carthians at least in passing, and from these relationships coteries sometimes form.
Elders of other covenants tend to look down their noses at such coteries, troubled that the Carthians might seduce members to their vainly idealistic movement. Some sires, however, see this as a valuable learning experience for their childer. This is not to say that all Carthian ideas are doomed to fail or that all mixed-covenant coteries that contain Carthians are dedicated to rebelling against the power structure or seducing members of other covenants.
Many Carthians use cosmopolitan coteries even those that contain no Carthians as examples of how cooperation between Kindred can lead to cosmopolitan coteries 23 chapter one something bigger and better. Of course, most other Kindred shrug this off and claim that similar cooperation can never work on a grander scale. From time to time, however, the Carthians illustrate their points when a mixed-covenant coterie accomplishes something that a single-covenant coterie has been unable to do.
What Carthians most often have to offer mixed-covenant coteries is a connection to and contacts among mortal society. Many Carthians are relatively young, and most of them tend to maintain at least some connection to the mortal world — something a Dragon sorcerer or Acolyte cultist might have neglected.
For their part, Carthians tend to enjoy cosmopolitan coteries. Anything that fosters understanding between Kindred is positive as far as they are concerned, and it can be used as an object lesson.
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