Example Of Running A Game Page 4 by: Trunks After talking with the Ventrue Theodore, the group learns of his power hungry sire, Rene Le Comte, who seeks control of the town, and of the problems the Sheriff has given him in the past. Suspecting Le Comte may be behind the girl's disappearance, and fearing Le Comte's actions may attract unwarranted attention on the Kindred from the mortals, he requests assistance from the players. The players agree to help, and the Ventrue tells them of a Cappadocian elsewhere who can further assist. At this point, I bring up the Advance Scene panel and mark the 1st selection as done. What this does is update the Quest Log, telling players what their next immediate goal is, and advancing to certain scenes triggers various scripts. For example, after their meeting with the Cappadocian, advancing the scene will unlock a certain door the party will have to go through. In the beta we were unable to edit the scenes, scripts associated with them, or the Quest Log entries that each scene corresponds to, but in the final version we should be able to. Advancing the scene Now I can either have the Ventrue to walk off, or have him vanish "mysteriously." In this current build, we are unable to have NPCs use Disciplines while possessed, so I can't use Obfuscate. Instead, I'll just click the "Delete Object" button to remove the Ventrue. About to remove the Ventrue Before proceeding to the Cappadocian, the group notices the monk the barkeep spoke of that reported the girl's disappearance. The party now talks with the monk to learn what they can from him. They learn that five nights ago, the girl was visiting the cemetary to pay her respects to her dead mother, as it was the four year anniversery of her death. She was unable to visit in the day as she was busy working in the field. The Sheriff would send in a group of his best knights to investigate two nights later, but they too would disappear. The girl's mother died of an unknown illness, and was very pale when she died. That fact raises a little interest in the party. Conversation with the monk The party reaches the entrance to the Church tower, where in the basement resides the Cappadocian that the Ventrue referred the group to. Door to the Church tower The players enter the basement and begin talking with the Cappadocian. Notice the little things in the room that help create the mood...some bones strewn around the floor, the lone candle on the table as the only light source. This screenshot was taken in full screen mode by the way...pressing F11 toggles the interface on and off. The Cappadocian's lair At this time, one of the players complains about having some display problems. I tell him to exit and reenter the room, but he can't even find the door out. So I possess him, move him out and back in. He tells me things are cool again, so I go ahead and repossess the Cappadocian. Just finished moving Conrad in and out... After receiving information about Le Comte and his haven, the Cappadocian offers some equipment to the party. For each player I spawn a light helmet, some leather armor, a shield, leather gloves, 2 stakes, a few vials of vitae, and a weapon. I roleplay this out by saying the Cappadocian has an extensive storeroom nearby. This is one example of how to provide equipment in the middle of a storyline. About to create some items Once everyone's equipped, the Cappadocian tells the group she will now try to break the magical seal that keeps the main entrance to the catacombs closed. Advancing the scene unlocks said door, and this is just my way of roleplaying why it was locked and how it gets unlocked. Advancing the scene again But before the party can get there, they must first get past the Sheriff and his guard detail. After the disappearance of his daughter and his men, he has cordoned off the cemetary as a precaution. It will be up to the players to convince the Sheriff somehow to let them pass. The Sheriff with the guard detail. Having run this chronicle several times, I've seen many different methods that some parties have taken to get past the Sheriff. The most common method was logical arguing combined with trying to get to the Sheriff's emotional side. Others have lied through their teeth, and depending on how good the lie and delivery is (and their social stats, which I consider to a degree) some manage to convince the Sheriff to pass. Others have tried using Obfuscate, and "climbed" over the fence. You really can't climb, but you can roleplay it...I just move the party members across the fence via ALT-Right-Clicking. When possessing a NPC, holding ALT then right-clicking transports that NPC to the spot you click on. Of course, if the usage of Obfuscate runs out before the group can manage to get over the fence, then they'll get caught. The party tries to convince the Sheriff to let them pass Previous Page Next Page