GSS - Masquerade

Genre Setting

The current chronicle uses the setting as depicted in Vampire 20th Anniversary Edition.

The world of Vampire is a dark reflection of our own. The shadows loom longer here, and the night is more reluctant to yield to day. Corruption runs rampant, from the government through private corporations and into the various subcultures that revel in these culturally bankrupt times.

It is a world of contrasts, of haves versus have-nots. It all looks very much like the real world, as seen through an extremely stylized filter that turns up the contrasts between dark and light. The technology is the same as ours right now, but the people who use it are different — darker, in personality and motive — and that changes how the world functions.

The civilization of the undead is a manipulative and poisonous dance, and few vampires are left entirely untouched. Since the nights of antiquity, Cainites have struggled for supremacy, in an ancient and many-layered struggle known as the Jyhad. Leaders, cultures, nations, and armies have all been pawns in the secret war, and vampiric conspiracies have influenced much (though by no means all) of human history.

Few things are as they seem in the vampires’ nocturnal world: A political coup, economic crash, or social trend may be merely the surface manifestation of a centuries-old struggle. Vampire elders command from the shadows, manipulating mortals and other vampires alike — and the elders are often manipulated in turn. Indeed, most combatants may not even realize for whom they fight, or why.

The Jyhad rages even today. Though skyscrapers take the place of castles, machine-guns and missiles replace swords and torches, and stock portfolios substitute for vaults of gold, the game remains the same. Kindred battles Kindred, Clan battles Clan, Sect battles Sect, as they have for eons.

Increasingly, vampires speak of Gehenna — the long prophesied night of apocalypse when the most ancient vampires, the mythical Antediluvians, will rise from their hidden lairs to devour all the younger vampires.

This Gehenna, so the Kindred say, will presage the end of the world, as vampires and mortals alike are consumed in an inexorable tide of blood. Some vampires strive to prevent Gehenna, some fatalistically await it, and still others consider it a myth. Those who believe in Gehenna, however, insist that the end time comes soon…

The Traditions

• The Traditions - The Traditions of the Camarilla

The Protocols

• The Protocols of the Camarilla - The Protocols of the Camarilla.

The Code of Milan

• The Code of Milan - The Code of the Sabbat

GST requirements for VST's

• Antagonist NPC's or Plots which are cross genre (i.e. Sabbat, Werewolf, etc) - High Approval (as per the Addenda), but notification to relevent other GST as applicable
• Antagonist NPC's or Plots which are low or mid approval in-genre groups (i.e. Giovanni, Setites, etc) - Notification to GST
• VSS's must specifically address rules for "Generation Distribution". That is, with MC no longer linked to Generation, enforceable population ratio's are now a requirement. As a rough guide the GST considers 1 Elder Generation PC to 9 non-Elder Generation PC's appropriate, with a minumum requirement of 2 Elder Generations be supported.
  • Summarily, that is a game of 20 regular players opens of 2 PC Elder generation slots.

GST requirements for specific approval items

General

• Balanced Character sheets, that make logical sense. For example, themes, and similar, which do not make sense that I would question:
  • Playing a life-long street punk, without streetwise or street influence, but with Potence 5.
  • Having a specific “cultural” ritual without any background ties to the culture, or PC’s from the culture.
  • Coming from a Country with another language, but not having another language.
• Formula: the more rare / powerful the approval = the more responsibility on you as a player. Failure to act in accordance with this will result in desanctioning of characters.
• At creation: I expect a detailed background and extensive tie-ins with other PC’s.
• After creation: I expect significant IC effort to attain the approval item (without resorting to metagaming).

Elders

• Elders will only be approved if in-line with the VSS rules for population.
• Camarilla Elders should be created as per the elder style guide.
• Sabbat Elders should be created in a similar fashion as per the elder style guide.

List items the GST is *likely* not to approve

1. Age: Existed earlier than 500AD.
2. Canon Affecting: Affects on Canon setting / NPC’s / events.
3. Canon Affecting: Use of any unique magic items from source material.
4. Character: Permanent cross-genre participation between two genres
5. Character Background: Anything related specifically to the Vatican.
6. Character Background: Cross-genre background (e.g. a vampire PC that was once kinfolk; a mage PC who was once a ghoul).
7. Character IC Knowledge: Learning a Lore that is specific to a special approval character type, organization, etc, outside of those defined as clan benefits.
8. Character Sheet: Antagonist character types as player characters, such as Character Types: Baali
9. Character Sheet: Type: Abominations
10. Character Sheet: More than seven Traits of Merits, and/or more than seven Free Traits from Flaws.
11. Character Sheet: To regain control of a retired PC and return that PC to play.
12. Disciplines: out of clan Daimoinon, Temporis, Chimestry
13. Disciplines: out of clan Vicissitude, Valeren and Obeah outside the Sabbat venue
14. Disciplines: Thaumaturgy Approval requirements outside of those listed in the Addenda
15. Merit: Unbondable
16. Positions: entering play as a current National level position such as Archon, Alastor, Astor and/or Justicar
17. Approvals radically divergent from Canon Setting / Paradigm

Guides, setting rules and similar documents

• Masquerade Places on the Map - Global locations and time periods of where other characters have been.
• Masquerade Timeline - the Timeline of our Sanctioned Chronicle.
• Elder Playstyle - The Playstyle and requirments for playing Elders
• Masquerade Lists - Lists for the Masquerade Chronicle
• Addenda’s - Global Addenda for the Classic WoD setting and Masquerade genres

Notable NPC’s / CPC’s in the Country

• Archon Captain Alejandro Kleist – Ancilla Lasombra antitribu and Archon
• Aldous Kohler – Tremere Pontifex
• Archon Enver Fasheri - Ancilla Caitiff and Archon
• Kaloyan the Vlach – Ancient Walachian Brujah, progenitor of Line of Kaloyan
• Kouros of Sasan – Ancient Gangrel and public Alastor
• Gunderic the Vandal – Ancient Ventrue, former Justicar, and founder of House Vandal
• Lucien Nevue – Ancient Franconian Malkavian
• Luther – Ancient Visigoth Nosferatu and former Archon
• Vaishnavas – Ravnos myth…
• Vashti of Sasan – Ancient Toreador and former Prince of Aix-en-Provence
• Xaviar – Elder Gangrel and Justicar of Australasia

VST Comment

VST Camarilla - Brisbane:

Copied from the Brisbane Camarilla VSS, but it is what I consider the most important principle and stands repeating:

The Setting is Unfair - the Game does not have to be. Vampire is a game of political, social and literal backstabbing. And there is alway, always, something out there much bigger set to crush you. Those are elements of the setting - they should be expected and will be encouraged. However all that is IC. OOC interactions are expected to be based on honesty, integrity and trust.

Justin Walduck, VST Camarilla, Brisbane (outgoing)

Brisbane Camarilla VSS

VST Sabbat - Brisbane

Brisbane Sabbat VSS

VST Masquerade - Canberra

The GSS is good. Also, well said Justin.

Canberra Masquerade VSS

Approval number

TOPAUS0206