One Shots Adventures With Hiei

Welcome to Hiei’s One Shot Adventures.  In these posts I will be writing short one shot adventurers and stories for Storytellers; Dungeon Masters; Game Masters.  Feel free to use these in your games and tell me how they went.  Enjoy

One Shot Story for VtM (any edition)

Level of players (starting, just getting to know the game.)

The Scene opens in the office of the senchel (insert name here).  The senchel has an envelope on her desk with the seal of the prince on the fold holding the letter in place.  As your characters enter the room, the senchel raises out of a sign of what mutual respect she can show to someone of your status in the city.

(Players can greet if they like at this point.  Once they are done continue)

Senchel: Hello neonates, I hope the night finds you all well.  I am sure you are curious as to why you have all been gathered here this night.  So let me skip the formalities and allow me to get to the heart of the matter.

At this point the senchel opens the letter and reads

I wish I could be in your presence this night to relay my task for you this even.  But I have been called away to perform duties on another matter.  I have left detailed instructions for you with My right hand.  This night you and your compatriots will be going into the slums of the city.  The sheriff has heard rumors that an agent of the Sabbat has been hiding there.  It will be your task to mark this target for the sheriff so that we can eradicate the sword from even getting a toe hold in our city.

There will be a good reward for you should be successful in rooting out this mole.

Regards

The Prince (Insert name)

The senchel than puts down the letter and looks at your party.  I will give you a few nights to come up with a plan of action.  If you can bring in the Sabbat alive for questioning that would be a plus.

(Give your players time to come up with plans let them think about their strengths and weaknesses.  Once planning is done.  Skip to the night of confrontation.)

It is at this point you can come up with a Sabbat lick that would be able to give the players a slight challenge but not impossible.  Make sure they go over their plan.  And make sure that they get rewarded for their actions in EXP and some sort of recognition by the prince at court.  If they decide to take the Sabbat alive and in for questioning…… Expand from there.

End Scene

Quick and simple and gives new players time to get to know the system and how best to think and act like a vampire would.  Cunning, ruthless, scheming, let them find and play to the abilities of their characters.

Vampire The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition

How has Vampire The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition shaped up since it came out?  Well that is a matter of opinion.  Some players view it as the second coming of their favorite game.  Other players view it as bastardized waterdown version missing the glory of revised.  Yet others view it as not the second coming or the death, but as an extension and updating of the lore presented in the game.

My personal view.

V20 (The abbreviation of Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary edition), opened doors for some aspects and closed them on others.  As of this writing, anyone running a strict V20 game (Strict meaning only using V20 books nothing else) only has access to what the current books have out and can not be melded with the previous editions.   So until the clanbooks come out in V20 style, the system has helped some clans and hamstrung other clans.

Example:  Because of V20 the Giovanni no longer have access to spirit slave background and the Proxi Kiss Merit.  Spirit Slaves like ghouls are servants of the Giovanni that can not be seen are only visible say with Auspex or when interacting with their master.  It takes out one of the Necromancers main tools.  The Proxi Kiss Merit: Gives the giovanni access to potence 1 for free at creation or if they took the higher cost version Potence 1 and Fortitude 1 for free at creation.  As wizarding clan this gives the Giovanni more options and makes them less squishy in battle.  Since V20 ripped this away it makes the Giovanni a clan you do not want to play unless you are part of a chronicle that centers around them.

Do not get me wrong I love that Vampire was brought back.  I just hope that with this restructuring of the game, they bring back stuff that made it great.  Give the players more options with their characters.  The clanbooks gave players more information to work with when making their various characters.  Like finding out that the Malkavians as a collective clan stole the use of Dominate as a clan wide discipline from the Ventrue.  Or the reason behind the animosity between The Gangrel and The Ravnos.  Or even that the twisted and grotesque looking Tzimice have access to a magic older than The Tremere’s.

Final Verdict

If you have never played Vampire The Masquerade.  I suggest you go out and play it.  Start with V20 it’s a fresh start for the series and new players can quickly learn the game.  Veteran players use it to meld with your current game if you like.  Or do what my friend Pat did with D&D 3.0 and 3.5 mix together the systems and balance the game that way.  Either way it is a fun night all around.