The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Your local sanctioned game has more in common with the monkey exhibit at the zoo than the WoD.

How do you cope? What should you do?

Revolt! Download Jared Sorensen's brilliant "Vampires" and leave the hassles of MET behind you.

PRICE VS PRESENTATION:

It's absolutely free. You can save "Vampires" as an offline webpage and read it all day long for the low, low, price of *nothing*. The presentation is both clean and straight-forward, relying on good writing instead of fancy graphics to catch the eye of readers.

CHARACTERS:

Anybody familiar with the rather MET rules will really appreciate Jared's approach to character creation. Here you will become reaquainted with the simplicity and plausibility long since abandoned by MET.

First of all, there are only three attributes in Vampires: Blood, Resolve, and Status. Blood is used to augment physical actions and disciplines, Resolve used to augment mental actions and disciplines, and Status to augment social actions and disciplines.

Secondly, there are only ten disciplines, each having three levels of power. These disciplines are potentially available to all kindred, with the only real restriction being that progeny are initially only allowed to learn disciplines that their sire has mastered.

Third, is the actual set up for a game. At the beginning of a game, Elder kindred are chosen at a ratio of one Elder per four players. Elder kindred are considered to be of 1st Generation, and receive preset attribute ranking reflecting their power.

After Elder kindred have been chosen, all potential progeny write their character's name, personality, and basic description on index cards. These cards are then passed around to all of the Elders who then select one of the characters to become their first-born progeny. An additional progeny may be selected for each Status token that an Elder spends. First-born are considered to be 2nd Generation kindred, and receive preset attribute rankings slightly lower than those of their sire.

First-born progeny in turn earn the right to sire their own children. Following the same rules used above, first-born progeny may each select two progeny of their own. An additional progeny may be selected for each Status token that a First-born spends. Each progeny selected by a First-born is considered to be of 3rd Generation and (as before) revceive preset attributes slightly lower than those of their sire.

You may have already guessed that these progeny are then allowed to select their own children from the remaining characters. All of these progeny and subsequent progeny may sire up tp three children (except for progeny with a only one Blood - they may sire no children).

After the various families have been formed, every kindred (excepting Elders) is randomly assigned one enemy and one ally. This is done by drawing index cards, but it should be noted that characters will only be allowed to have enemies and allies from other families assigned in this manner.

That's it. You're ready to start playing.

A NOTE ON METAPLOT:

Anybody who has played in or run a sanctioned LARP is familiar (or should be) with the potential trap of White Wolf's metaplot, and will be happy to see that it simply doesn't exist in Vampires. There is no formal vampiric society or history in place at the beginning of a game - it is entirely up to the ST and players to create one.

The bottom line is this: The ST is completely free to begin their story in any time, place, or genre that they wish. Players are completely free to create their own histories, establish their own names, and weave their own world.

CLASHES:

When many kindred come together in one place there are bound to be a few scrapes. Whenever a vampire attempts an action and is opposed by another, it comes down to a challenge.

As previously noted, Blood is used to fuel physical challenges, Resolve is used to fuel mental challenges, and Status is used to fuel social challenges.

Each attribute is represented by a pool of colored tokens - Blood by red tokens, Resolve by blue tokens, Status by white (or clear) tokens.

Whichever participant bids more Blood, Resolve, or Status tokens wins the challenge. The challenge winner succeeds at accomplishing whatever action was being attempted and the challenge loser succumbs to any effects thereof and loses a token from the appropriate pool (except in case of Status - status tokens are not lost in this manner).

CADAVERS(Final Death):

There is a bit of confusion here, being the only section of the rules not up to Jared's usual standards.

The rules state that a vampire who has been reduced to zero Blood tokens is still functional, but have no blood to fuel disciplines, create progeny, or initiate a blood challange until they have fed.

The rules also state that Resolve tokens can be lost when losing blood challenges, but does not indicate what kind of effect this has on kindred (though I suppose it's nearly identical to having no Blood tokens) or how they are regained.

Finally, the rules state that if a vampire is attacked by a deadly weapon (fire, sunlight, decapitation, Level 3 Potence, or cannibalization) and loses the challenge, they will die - turning to ash.

Okay... you may have a few of the same questions that I did here. Luckily none of the answers are too hard to improvise, and this is how I'm handling things in my upcoming troupe game:

1.Resolve pools are totally refreshed between game sessions.

2.Being reduced to zero Resolve tokens carries the same consequences as being reduced to zero Blood tokens.

3.Being attacked by non-deadly weapons and failing the blood challenge results in the losing vampire succumbing to torpor.

Do realize that these are *not* options provided by Jared, but rather by myself. I'm sure that if you take the time to contact Jared, he can better explain things.

CONCLUSION:

This game is a simple, fun, alternative to MET. If you're tired of throwing money at a game that is stuck in perpetual play-test mode and plagued with numerous contradictions and rules that make no sense in the context of the game world, you should really take a close look at Vampires:

http://www.memento-mori.com/vampires

James Hargrove

Vampires (Version 1.2)
Vampires (Version 1.2) Capsule Review by James Hargrove on 09/08/01 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty) A simple, fun, alternative to MET rules. Product: Vampires (Version 1.2) Author: Jared Sorensen Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Memento-Mori Theatrics Line: Cost: Free Page count: n/a Year published: 2001 ISBN: SKU: Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by James Hargrove on 09/08/01 Genre tags: Horror Vampire Gothic Live-action	Your local sanctioned game has more in common with the monkey exhibit at the zoo than the WoD. How do you cope? What should you do? Revolt! Download Jared Sorensen's brilliant "Vampires" and leave the hassles of MET behind you. PRICE VS PRESENTATION: It's absolutely free. You can save "Vampires" as an offline webpage and read it all day long for the low, low, price of nothing. The presentation is both clean and straight-forward, relying on good writing instead of fancy graphics to catch the eye of readers. CHARACTERS: Anybody familiar with the rather MET rules will really appreciate Jared's approach to character creation. Here you will become reaquainted with the simplicity and plausibility long since abandoned by MET. First of all, there are only three attributes in Vampires: Blood, Resolve, and Status. Blood is used to augment physical actions and disciplines, Resolve used to augment mental actions and disciplines, and Status to augment social actions and disciplines. Secondly, there are only ten disciplines, each having three levels of power. These disciplines are potentially available to all kindred, with the only real restriction being that progeny are initially only allowed to learn disciplines that their sire has mastered. Third, is the actual set up for a game. At the beginning of a game, Elder kindred are chosen at a ratio of one Elder per four players. Elder kindred are considered to be of 1st Generation, and receive preset attribute ranking reflecting their power. After Elder kindred have been chosen, all potential progeny write their character's name, personality, and basic description on index cards. These cards are then passed around to all of the Elders who then select one of the characters to become their first-born progeny. An additional progeny may be selected for each Status token that an Elder spends. First-born are considered to be 2nd Generation kindred, and receive preset attribute rankings slightly lower than those of their sire. First-born progeny in turn earn the right to sire their own children. Following the same rules used above, first-born progeny may each select two progeny of their own. An additional progeny may be selected for each Status token that a First-born spends. Each progeny selected by a First-born is considered to be of 3rd Generation and (as before) revceive preset attributes slightly lower than those of their sire. You may have already guessed that these progeny are then allowed to select their own children from the remaining characters. All of these progeny and subsequent progeny may sire up tp three children (except for progeny with a only one Blood - they may sire no children). After the various families have been formed, every kindred (excepting Elders) is randomly assigned one enemy and one ally. This is done by drawing index cards, but it should be noted that characters will only be allowed to have enemies and allies from other families assigned in this manner. That's it. You're ready to start playing. A NOTE ON METAPLOT: Anybody who has played in or run a sanctioned LARP is familiar (or should be) with the potential trap of White Wolf's metaplot, and will be happy to see that it simply doesn't exist in Vampires. There is no formal vampiric society or history in place at the beginning of a game - it is entirely up to the ST and players to create one. The bottom line is this: The ST is completely free to begin their story in any time, place, or genre that they wish. Players are completely free to create their own histories, establish their own names, and weave their own world. CLASHES: When many kindred come together in one place there are bound to be a few scrapes. Whenever a vampire attempts an action and is opposed by another, it comes down to a challenge. As previously noted, Blood is used to fuel physical challenges, Resolve is used to fuel mental challenges, and Status is used to fuel social challenges. Each attribute is represented by a pool of colored tokens - Blood by red tokens, Resolve by blue tokens, Status by white (or clear) tokens. Whichever participant bids more Blood, Resolve, or Status tokens wins the challenge. The challenge winner succeeds at accomplishing whatever action was being attempted and the challenge loser succumbs to any effects thereof and loses a token from the appropriate pool (except in case of Status - status tokens are not lost in this manner). CADAVERS(Final Death): There is a bit of confusion here, being the only section of the rules not up to Jared's usual standards. The rules state that a vampire who has been reduced to zero Blood tokens is still functional, but have no blood to fuel disciplines, create progeny, or initiate a blood challange until they have fed. The rules also state that Resolve tokens can be lost when losing blood challenges, but does not indicate what kind of effect this has on kindred (though I suppose it's nearly identical to having no Blood tokens) or how they are regained. Finally, the rules state that if a vampire is attacked by a deadly weapon (fire, sunlight, decapitation, Level 3 Potence, or cannibalization) and loses the challenge, they will die - turning to ash. Okay... you may have a few of the same questions that I did here. Luckily none of the answers are too hard to improvise, and this is how I'm handling things in my upcoming troupe game: 1.Resolve pools are totally refreshed between game sessions. 2.Being reduced to zero Resolve tokens carries the same consequences as being reduced to zero Blood tokens. 3.Being attacked by non-deadly weapons and failing the blood challenge results in the losing vampire succumbing to torpor. Do realize that these are not options provided by Jared, but rather by myself. I'm sure that if you take the time to contact Jared, he can better explain things. CONCLUSION: This game is a simple, fun, alternative to MET. If you're tired of throwing money at a game that is stuck in perpetual play-test mode and plagued with numerous contradictions and rules that make no sense in the context of the game world, you should really take a close look at Vampires: http://www.memento-mori.com/vampires James Hargrove

Vampires (Version 1.2)