Vampire: the Requiem (Blood & Smoke) VSS

VST Approved Date: n/a
DST Approved Date: n/a
GST Approved Date: n/a
NST Approved Date: n/a

ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

Venue Name/Number: Armidale Requiem 2.0 / VTRVSS-1305-Armidale
Domain Name/Number: Armidale / PTAPAU032

VST: n/a
VC: n/a

Time/Location: As announced

Mailing lists, websites and other online resources used

Venue Wiki: http://wiki.beyondthesunset.org.au/index.php?title=Armidale: Blood and Smoke

GAME INFORMATION

Vampire: the Requiem 2.0 (Blood & Smoke) Troupe Game

This is a troupe game and exists in a separate reality to all Classic and 1.0 games. Interaction with other 2.0 games will be limited until source books for each are released. Pleas epay attention to the differences in setting between this and the older venues.

Setting:

Armidale Requiem is set in a vastly expanded and industrialised Armidale. This is a darker and grittier setting that the Real Life city. Structurally the central districts have been preserved largely as is, with the outer areas featuring more high rise development. The vampire has long dominated this community for decades, maintaining an unchallenged power-base that has prevented all significant incursions.... until now.

Covenant Flavour

The Covenants: Should any vampire be sentenced to destruction, their own covenant carries out the deed in accordance with their own traditions. Lesser punishments are carried out by an agent of the Prince.

Lancea et Sanctum: Due to an old accord the LS have free reign to investigate any legitimate accusation of Amaranth.

Circle of the Crone: The crone are unsurprisingly deeply involved with the local occult community. They have their fingers in various fortune teller, alternate medicine, alternate lifestyle, and cult activities. Of particular note is the local Hellfire Club and satanic church.

The Ordo Dracul: Due to an old agreement all requests to embrace, and to relocate to Armidale are recorded and assessed by the Ordo Dracul. While the Prince still has final say, agreement with the OD recommendation is almost certain. The OD has gained a certain amount of influence in the medical and pharmaceutical industries in town and has majority control of the White Tower in the city centre (think Hemlock Grove).

Invictus: The Invictus have sunk their talons into both the mortal police force, emergency response organisations and the criminal elements of the city. Their power is concentrated in the outer suburbs.

Carthians: Carthians often run in high society and have control of a significant portion of the cities wealth. Over the years the Carthian movement has deliberately manoeuvred itself to control the use of media, TV, Radio and Celebrities in their pursuit of manipulating the mortal population. Their power is focused in the central suburbs.

Armidale Setting

The Unwashed Masses (TUM) and The Order. There are many (50+) other vampires in the city, of varying clans and covenants, but of no individual significance.

They hold little, if any status.
They will not have disciplines above 1 dot most of the time.
They are overwhelmingly neonates.
The PCs represent all of the Vampires of note (the court).
They can influence status. Social characters can court them to get backing.
They can be influenced *by* status. If you're important in status dots, they'll treat you that way.

The Order: The vampires dedicated/drafted to the defence of the city, including maintaining the city boundaries for hostile incursions. The majority are drawn from the Circle and the Invictus.

Midnight Train: Created and maintained by the Carthian Order the armoured and guarded midnight train allows for safe and rapid passage to the other major cities. Use is free for Carthians of status, and cheap to members of court.

Travel Threats Armidale is a city under siege by outside forces, as such any leaving of the city is best done stealthily. While there is no cordon around the city there are often observers and lone travellers will often be ambushed in transit, or on arrival at their destination.

Air: Planes only leave the city during daylight hours, making air travel problematic.
Rail: Passenger trains only depart/arrive from Armidale during the daylight hours (with the exception of the Midnight Train), while cargo trains are easily searched. This makes rail travel problematic.
Road: Buses are predictable, but with over a dozen roads leaving town car travel is generally the preferred method of transport. Some vampires maintain safe-houses with associated staff for ease of travel. While others travel as an armed convoy.

Mood & Themes:

Themes and Mood will change over the course of the story as it unfolds and a also reliant on the players, so has been separated into two measures and displayed externally to dynamically change as the game progresses.

Player themes/mood are what the players believe the themes expressed by the general player base to be. Plot themes/mood are what the story is meant to portray, and while driven by the Storyteller and while less changeable, are still subject to interpretation by the players as they progress.

Preferred character types, and restrictions:

As this game commences before the official chronicle players may AT CREATION elect to have a static or evolving character. A static character will accrue no experience but may be carried into the official chronicle commencement with any accrued free dots and all game history. Evolving characters will not transition to the new chronicle, but may accrue and spend experience until the commencement of the official game.

Statistics by themselves will not be approved, all characters require more than just ‘dots-on-sheet’ to be approved, be this a written background, a detailed wiki, a completed CCD or something else.

Secondary Characters are strongly discouraged and will only be approved under exceptional circumstances. Wanting to “try something different” or simply wanting a range of occasional characters at your disposal is not a valid justification.

Instead, players will be able to request a particular style of NPC to fulfil the role of what would be a secondary PC. If the player is consistent in their portrayal of the NPC, then the character is likely to be considered for Custodial Player Character status, or transferral to PC status if the player's current PC is retired or destroyed.

This process is to assist the Storytellers in creating a stronger universe of Non-Player Characters, and to ensure that Player Characters are developed and interesting, rather than two dimensional cardboard cut-outs.

EXTERNAL FACTORS INFORMATION

Experience Awards

TBA
NOTE: Static Characters receive no XP.

Custom Rules

Testing may be performed without a VST/AVST/Narrator between characters if a mutually agreed on third party is present to adjudicate.

Downtime Handling Procedure

Downtimes will be processed in date order. There is no guarantee a downtime will be responded to, however all effort will be made to do so. All actions will be considered to occur at the time of submission.

Players may receive downtime replies even if they have not submitted a downtime, or for actions they did not do if plot or actions of other players and that player’s allies/contacts/status would give them such information.

If no reply is given by the VST before the game and the downtime action is low approval and did not involve other players, that action goes ahead as stated.

Crossover limitations and expectations

This venue will NOT cross with Classic or 1.0 venues. Antagonism between genres is discouraged.

Armidale: Blood and Smoke

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