White Wolf is too prolific; help me, HiveMind!

March 12, 2012 3:32 PM

Can you help me with a Vampire:the Requiem plot?

I'm about to kick off my first ever Vampire:the Requiem game (a solo chronicle), as ST, for my completely un-gamer gf, who loves Buffy/True Blood/Being Human (and hates Twilight, phew!), and is curious about my hobby.

I've gamed a variety of systems over the past (yikes!) 28 years, and even dabbled in a Vamp:Masq game for a couple of sessions, years ago. My conundrum is that I'm not well enough versed in all the myriad intricacies of White Wolf's mythos, and those folks are very prolific publishers.

My idea, so far, is to start her PC as a Mortal, play through the Embrace and beyond. I have an idea involving a new "cult" of some kind, and disappearing homeless folks (think Scientology/Hare Krishnas). As she investigates (being a do-gooder, lefty, freelance journalist) she'll stumble into the supernatural and be embraced by a Mekhet sire, to help him/her take down said cult (and what lies behind it).

What I need help with are some rules/universe ideas for the cult. I just don't have a deep enough WW background to explore useful and plausible ideas for the cult, and what lies behind it.

I envision a cult(and the cult's source) that is both a short and a long term threat to the city's Kindred and Mortals, something that can hurt individuals, but can also mess with the current power structures. I have yet to start truly fleshing out the Kindred political scene, so all ideas are welcome. Could it involve diseases? Drugs? Other Vampires? Mages? Lupines? Fae? I have no idea, but you might!

I know there must be some juicy stuff in those umpteen million WW supplements, but where to start...? I'm happy to pick up a relevant book or two, but I can't really afford to buy, nor read, all of them.

Please, shower me with ideas!

posted by Sustainable Chiles to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (2 answers total)

Pretty much that exact same storyline is one of the chapter 2 quests in VTM: Bloodlines - I don't remember all the specifics but it involved homeless people, a blood borne disease and a cult. You could probably pick up a copy pretty cheap (there are also youtube videos - it starts around here in an extraordinarily long serious of videos of some guy playing the game and doing the voice for his character. Its a 3 part quest IIRC so its probably not continuous. The quest is called Fun with Pestilence (and More Fun with Pestilence). I don't know how faithful the game is to the source material but it might give you some ideas.
posted by missmagenta at 3:54 PM on March 12, 2012

Mages would be perfect for the cult, and they're a genuine threat to vampires. They can use other people to build up their power and use that power to drain bloodsuckers. They're also terrible for the political structure for both humans and vamps. I'd go with them at some level of your plot, for sure.

Your player will need some vampiric resources that aren't out to get her...or at least willing to see her as useful for a while. Since she's a reporter. the research-loving Nosferatu seem like a perfect fit. Easy to make Nos clan "outcasts" seem natural, too, so if there are any clan rivalries between Mekhet and Nosferatu, they can be written out that way.

I could go on and on, but my preliminary suggestion is to dig through the essential Mage books and the Nosferatu clan book. I think it will help your imagination spool out from there.
posted by batmonkey at 6:24 PM on March 12, 2012