The Weekly Round Report, volume I
I kind of idly mentioned maybe doing a Round Report last week- and to my surprise, people have actually been bugging me to put one up.
I guess the proper 'industry' term for this would be Actual Play notes, but man that sounds dumb.
The current Round project, which began last week, is a Vampire: the Requiem game set in Chicago. This is the second Weekly Round game, the first having been Life After Death, a homebrew zombie apocalypse scenario using the World of Darkness system, run by Chris (who has since lamentably dropped out of the Round).
Session one got off to a late start, so unfortunately the log's going to be a bit shorter than should be normal. The major actors in Shadows of Chicago are a collection of neonates of vintages varying from half a decade under the Curse to less than a year. The oldest is
• Aaron Sullivan, hailing from Boston. He was forced to flee west after a violent falling-out with his sire, and has finally come to ground in Chicago. Aaron is Spina, a minor but prestigious Daeva bloodline with potent ties to the Invictus. Though currently Unbound, he's leaning toward membership in the First Estate- if they'll have him.
His contemporaries and might-be allies are a trio of unconnected neonates from various parts of the midwestern rust belt. Throughout the last 18 months, some being or force has been sweeping through the countless little crumbling industrial towns and cities that string out from Chicago like a comet's tail, and the vampires have been disappearing one after another. Chicago's other three new arrivals were among the last tiny handful of Kindred remaining in that barren sector; all three, more interested with survival than mystery-solving, fled to the big city hoping to find safety in numbers. They are
• Jude Rollins, unbound Gangrel, AKC-certified dog breeder, motorcycle enthusiast, and, just recently, undead scourge upon mankind. The youngest of the new arrivals under the night, Jude is only two months past a Sanctified baptism (which, curiously, his sire did not survive) that he never wanted, and is taking pains to hide his former Covenant affiliation from the fundamentalists of Chicago.
• Anton Stern, a Ventrue gentleman, businessman, criminal and initiate of the Ordo Dracul. Anton's sire, Blake Ryerson, was himself a Chicago expatriate, having either left or fled the city during Maxwell's reign as Prince- he never explained the exact circumstances of his departure to his childe, a fact that is currently coming back to haunt the young Dragon. Anton is the new owner of the Ryerson stockyards and processing plants in Chicago, his sire having actually left behind a will in preparation for disappearing from the legal radar and reinventing himself, turning day-to-day control of his empire over to his childe. With Blake missing and presumed dead, Anton has come to Chicago with the dual concerns of gaining recognition and acceptance from its Dragons, and maintaining his claims to his business.
• Carson Shaw, a Gangrel Acolyte mostly involved in that venerable Covenant because his Sire was, and largely clueless about the deeper spirituality of the night. Neither terribly bright nor well-mannered, Carson's primary concern is night-to-night survival. However, he retains a streak of vitality (or an approximation thereof) in death that has drawn more than a few Acolyte eyes already.
Session 1 begins on October 4th, 2004. The four have arrived in Chicago throughout the preceeding month, and been located and informed by Loki, a Hound of the Prince, that they will be expected to present themselves to the Prince during the next Elysium at the Shedd Aquarium. Tonight is that night, and Anton, Aaron and Carson arrive at roughly the same time, feeling very much out of place. Making it past the door ghoul without incident, the trio soon find themselves dropped into the middle of the largest gathering of Kindred any of them have ever seen in the Oceanarium. Nerves jittering on end thanks to the near-constant tidal surges of the Predator's Taint, the three are taken aback at the size of the gathering. While Anton and Aaron hang back and attempt to figure out the lay of the social landscape, Carson goes plowing into the room, drawn to the spectacle of a certain vampire amusing herself by attempting to call dolphins to the surface of the Oceanarium's pool. Drawing the eye of one vampire in the watching crowd, he soon finds himself engaged in conversation with Ilsa Cotovsky, who proves quite disinterested in the political profile of the city, but recommends that the young Gangrel speak with a Kindred named Miriam, who, she says, will be interested in hearing about his flight from Gary, Indiana, and who will likely be more willing and able to show him how to navigate the city's political shoals.
Anton and Aaron, meanwhile, are graced for a moment by the attention of Justine Lasky. Anton defers automatically to the Daeva, showing off his finest manners, while Aaron warily probes for evidence of affiliation and status, disastrously midjudging both before Lasky reveals herself as Keeper of Elysium and excuses herself. Jude Rollins arrives about this time, as the assembled Kindred drift into the Wild Reef exhibit for the Prince's monthly court. He takes an immediate disliking to most of his fellow newcomers, along with everyone else present.
Within the exhibit Aaron narrowly avoids a confrontation with Edgar Treadwell, for no reason he can discern. Carson is momentarily cornered by an ancient and terrifying monster that identifies herself as Rowen, who bombards the young Acolyte with a series of seemingly random queries and cryptic bits of advice. The entire group is circled, tested, and sounded out by many of the Kindred present; most notable is Jude's encounter with Duce Carter. After tense opening words, the two hit it off fairly well.
Finally, Maxwell arrives, a ten foot blacktip shark pacing him as he assumes his place of address in front of the tank. Straight to business, Clarke grills the four on their reasons for coming to Chicago, their ancestry, and their affiliations. He is either surprised or feigns surprise well upon hearing of the emptying of the rust belt. Carson manages to start the interview on a bad note, Jude makes little impression at all, and Aaron brings out his best manners and all his knowledge of Invictus politesse in an attempt to garner the Prince's favor. The four are finally granted permission to reside in Chicago, though granted feeding rights (a temporary situation, they are assured) only within the boundaries of unclaimed Englewood, the city's most violent and hellish district.
After the parceling out of feeding rights, Anton is stopped and questioned about his ownership of the Ryerson company. During a quick jousting of words, the Prince makes it clear that he takes issue with the Dragon arriving in his city with an unsanctioned claim already staked. Unable to get a sense of the Prince's relationship with his sire, and unsure of whether Maxwell means to press the issue seriously or is simply prodding at him, the Ventrue makes a restrained but unmistakable show of giving Clarke a taste of the company's profits and access to its resources. Seemingly mollified, the Prince grants him tenurial regency over the holdings and operations of Ryerson's Fine Meats.
Accepted properly into the city, the four draw back together as all eyes turn to them. As permanent additions to the city, they know each is surely sizing them up and fitting them into ongoing plans; and each realizes that the only way to avoid becoming a pawn in some older monster's scheme is to stick together.
I guess the proper 'industry' term for this would be Actual Play notes, but man that sounds dumb.
The current Round project, which began last week, is a Vampire: the Requiem game set in Chicago. This is the second Weekly Round game, the first having been Life After Death, a homebrew zombie apocalypse scenario using the World of Darkness system, run by Chris (who has since lamentably dropped out of the Round).
Session one got off to a late start, so unfortunately the log's going to be a bit shorter than should be normal. The major actors in Shadows of Chicago are a collection of neonates of vintages varying from half a decade under the Curse to less than a year. The oldest is
• Aaron Sullivan, hailing from Boston. He was forced to flee west after a violent falling-out with his sire, and has finally come to ground in Chicago. Aaron is Spina, a minor but prestigious Daeva bloodline with potent ties to the Invictus. Though currently Unbound, he's leaning toward membership in the First Estate- if they'll have him.
His contemporaries and might-be allies are a trio of unconnected neonates from various parts of the midwestern rust belt. Throughout the last 18 months, some being or force has been sweeping through the countless little crumbling industrial towns and cities that string out from Chicago like a comet's tail, and the vampires have been disappearing one after another. Chicago's other three new arrivals were among the last tiny handful of Kindred remaining in that barren sector; all three, more interested with survival than mystery-solving, fled to the big city hoping to find safety in numbers. They are
• Jude Rollins, unbound Gangrel, AKC-certified dog breeder, motorcycle enthusiast, and, just recently, undead scourge upon mankind. The youngest of the new arrivals under the night, Jude is only two months past a Sanctified baptism (which, curiously, his sire did not survive) that he never wanted, and is taking pains to hide his former Covenant affiliation from the fundamentalists of Chicago.
• Anton Stern, a Ventrue gentleman, businessman, criminal and initiate of the Ordo Dracul. Anton's sire, Blake Ryerson, was himself a Chicago expatriate, having either left or fled the city during Maxwell's reign as Prince- he never explained the exact circumstances of his departure to his childe, a fact that is currently coming back to haunt the young Dragon. Anton is the new owner of the Ryerson stockyards and processing plants in Chicago, his sire having actually left behind a will in preparation for disappearing from the legal radar and reinventing himself, turning day-to-day control of his empire over to his childe. With Blake missing and presumed dead, Anton has come to Chicago with the dual concerns of gaining recognition and acceptance from its Dragons, and maintaining his claims to his business.
• Carson Shaw, a Gangrel Acolyte mostly involved in that venerable Covenant because his Sire was, and largely clueless about the deeper spirituality of the night. Neither terribly bright nor well-mannered, Carson's primary concern is night-to-night survival. However, he retains a streak of vitality (or an approximation thereof) in death that has drawn more than a few Acolyte eyes already.
Session 1 begins on October 4th, 2004. The four have arrived in Chicago throughout the preceeding month, and been located and informed by Loki, a Hound of the Prince, that they will be expected to present themselves to the Prince during the next Elysium at the Shedd Aquarium. Tonight is that night, and Anton, Aaron and Carson arrive at roughly the same time, feeling very much out of place. Making it past the door ghoul without incident, the trio soon find themselves dropped into the middle of the largest gathering of Kindred any of them have ever seen in the Oceanarium. Nerves jittering on end thanks to the near-constant tidal surges of the Predator's Taint, the three are taken aback at the size of the gathering. While Anton and Aaron hang back and attempt to figure out the lay of the social landscape, Carson goes plowing into the room, drawn to the spectacle of a certain vampire amusing herself by attempting to call dolphins to the surface of the Oceanarium's pool. Drawing the eye of one vampire in the watching crowd, he soon finds himself engaged in conversation with Ilsa Cotovsky, who proves quite disinterested in the political profile of the city, but recommends that the young Gangrel speak with a Kindred named Miriam, who, she says, will be interested in hearing about his flight from Gary, Indiana, and who will likely be more willing and able to show him how to navigate the city's political shoals.
Anton and Aaron, meanwhile, are graced for a moment by the attention of Justine Lasky. Anton defers automatically to the Daeva, showing off his finest manners, while Aaron warily probes for evidence of affiliation and status, disastrously midjudging both before Lasky reveals herself as Keeper of Elysium and excuses herself. Jude Rollins arrives about this time, as the assembled Kindred drift into the Wild Reef exhibit for the Prince's monthly court. He takes an immediate disliking to most of his fellow newcomers, along with everyone else present.
Within the exhibit Aaron narrowly avoids a confrontation with Edgar Treadwell, for no reason he can discern. Carson is momentarily cornered by an ancient and terrifying monster that identifies herself as Rowen, who bombards the young Acolyte with a series of seemingly random queries and cryptic bits of advice. The entire group is circled, tested, and sounded out by many of the Kindred present; most notable is Jude's encounter with Duce Carter. After tense opening words, the two hit it off fairly well.
Finally, Maxwell arrives, a ten foot blacktip shark pacing him as he assumes his place of address in front of the tank. Straight to business, Clarke grills the four on their reasons for coming to Chicago, their ancestry, and their affiliations. He is either surprised or feigns surprise well upon hearing of the emptying of the rust belt. Carson manages to start the interview on a bad note, Jude makes little impression at all, and Aaron brings out his best manners and all his knowledge of Invictus politesse in an attempt to garner the Prince's favor. The four are finally granted permission to reside in Chicago, though granted feeding rights (a temporary situation, they are assured) only within the boundaries of unclaimed Englewood, the city's most violent and hellish district.
After the parceling out of feeding rights, Anton is stopped and questioned about his ownership of the Ryerson company. During a quick jousting of words, the Prince makes it clear that he takes issue with the Dragon arriving in his city with an unsanctioned claim already staked. Unable to get a sense of the Prince's relationship with his sire, and unsure of whether Maxwell means to press the issue seriously or is simply prodding at him, the Ventrue makes a restrained but unmistakable show of giving Clarke a taste of the company's profits and access to its resources. Seemingly mollified, the Prince grants him tenurial regency over the holdings and operations of Ryerson's Fine Meats.
Accepted properly into the city, the four draw back together as all eyes turn to them. As permanent additions to the city, they know each is surely sizing them up and fitting them into ongoing plans; and each realizes that the only way to avoid becoming a pawn in some older monster's scheme is to stick together.