Every storyteller wants to create a unique game, one that will blow away its players and be the source of enjoyment for everyone. However, there seems to be a plethora of cookie cutter chronicles that seem to play on the same general concept.  This article is meant to entice, and inspire those who wish to create a game to think outside of the box. Use these ideas with a grain of salt, use them, manipulate them or simply ignore them. The choice is yours.

What ever happened to the core of the world of darkness?

That is, personal horror. If you go back to the roots of the game, and focus on the individual characters and their plight then you are taking the emphasis away from the politics and status and paying as much attention to the lowly outcast in the corner that you do to the mighty primogen.  

Too often in games I find that in order to truly be noticed and be involved in storylines you have to be a Primogen/Pack Leader/etc  or someone of great importance in the overall game. This alienates the younger or inexperienced players who are not used to the backstabbing intrigue of the average vampire game.  This focusing on the individual player not only makes everyone feel wanted and appreciated but can branch off into larger storylines that everyone can enjoy.

 

Not every game has to be an Elysium/Elysia gathering.

If you go by the tried and true method of every game being a court gathering it leads to more and more instances to alienate the less experienced player, with the primogen off in an “all important” meeting while the younger twiddle their thumbs.  Instead, you can bring Court sessions back to glory by only having them once per season. This places the Court gathering back into its proper perspective, and emphasizing how truly important it is.  Make a grand spectacle out of it, the rare appearance from the Prince, the Harpies gossiping, and the neonate’s rare moment to shine. You might be surprised as to the outcome.

 

With not every game being a mass communion, you can focus on the individual players. This forces the ST’s to play the role of NPC’s for the night, whether it be the character in questions mortal influence contacts with information or the random mortal who stirs things up.  Without a proper number of ST’s this task is daunting and difficult, which leads me to my next point:

Storyteller to Player ratio.

Larger games or more intricate games need more storytellers to properly handle it. The safest estimate is five players to every storyteller. Lack of proper authority will lead to confusion, bored players and a lack of stability in your game.

 

Having multiple ST’s might sound like a hassle in itself, but there is an easy way to handle it. After every game, ask your ST’s to submit a ledger of everything that they witnessed happening at the game, and publish it in a password protected forum for everyone’s perusal. Communication is vital to the success of an ongoing campaign.  I can not emphasize this enough; lack of communication from one ST to another can send a message to your players that the game is unstable.

 

If you are the type that wants to oversee everything, then delicate the other ST’s to “Assistants”. However, when you do this you may be sending the players a message that the “Assistant ST’s” word is not final and you may be getting more questions your way than you desired.  Another way to handle it is a “Storyteller Council” that by majority vote has an equal say in what goes on in the game.  By going with a Council, you will have to have a very detailed plan on who handles what aspect of the game, so you do not have any crossover action.  Again, proper communication is vital to its success.

Influence: Dots or People?

Depending on how you wish to run your game, you might want to downplay or emphasize the use of influence. Influence will always play a core role to any game, the vampire’s tool towards protecting the masquerade. However, should you take the extra step and create NPC’s for each level of obtainable influence in a certain area; you will have more opportunity to create minor or major storylines for your campaign.

 

For example, two characters within your campaign could have the same level of bureaucracy influence, and perhaps the same contact. This contact is a sad woman by the name of Amy Richards who has recently found out that her husband is cheating on her with another woman. One character might take to her plight and decide to do something about the situation. Depending on the outcome you might have two characters discovering that they each have their fingers in the same cookie jar, a murder investigation, or one very happy Amy who will do anything for the character who saved her marriage. The outcome is up to you.

 

Delegating NPC’s to each level of influence can also be fun, in that it adds more flavor to the mortal interaction of your game. Assign an influence to each of your ST’s and you will have it completed in no time.  Remember, without a mortal interaction, the masquerade is downplayed down to lesser importance, when it is really one of the most important aspects in Vampire.

Super powerful NPC’s

We all know what I am talking about here, whether you have done it or not. Some NPC’s are meant to simply fill a role, such as Prince or Bishop and some are to tweak the egos of the ST in question.   When you build a powerful NPC for your game, ask yourself what role it is to play. If you find that it honestly has none, then you should consider setting it aside. When there is that kind of character in a game, it leads to more trouble than it is honestly worth. You may upset or alienate your players, stunt storyline development, etc. For example: nobody wants to sit there and twiddle their thumbs while they watch the clash of the NPC Titans; the uber-powerful 7^th generation Assamite NPC  kicking the ever loving hell out of the evil uber-powerful antagonist NPC that has been threatening the city for months.

Organization and communication is vital to a successful game.

I have saved the most important thing for last; how you organize your game. Nothing is worse than coming to an event and finding out that the staff does not have their act together. They don’t know what is going on in-game, they don’t know who is attending, they don’t have everyone’s character sheet, etc.  

 

When you select your staff, make sure they know what you are expecting of them. Don’t just tell them, write it down and publish it to your forum. Do whatever is necessary so that everyone knows a) what is expected of them and b) what they are supposed to be doing.  Have someone in charge of every aspect of the game, and make sure that you have a back up should something happen. A well organized game sends a message to your players that you know what is going on and you can manage the complexity of a multi-faceted chronicle.