OOC Chat

That's fine, and welcome back. Nice to see things getting back in gear here.

Jedi, just to clarify, Gauge waltzed right past the two guards, right? Also, augmenting physical attributes has to be 2 dice in one trait. It can't be broken up into 1 die in two traits. And the effects only last for one turn, not the entire scene, meaning it'd burn out by the time you need it. It's reflexive though, so you're really better off spending it as soon as you're ready to use it.

I'd suggest instead, activating Vigor or Resilience. They last for the entire scene, meaning you can activate one now, and another later, and have them both running when you need them even though you can only spend one BP per turn. You might even have time to stack that blood buff on top of that. By the way, if you are just ignoring the guards, you might want to make a perception roll.

Hi, sorry for the post delay. Been a bit busy at work as of late. I'll try to get a post in tomorrow.

Thanks Josh. By the way, if anyone tried to PM me recently, my inbox was full-up. Last one I got was tagged Aug 8th, 2:14 pm. If there was anyone who tried to PM me after that, please re-send. I cleared out about half my messages to make room.

I PMed it you yesterday.

Edit: Wait. Well, shit. I didn't. I PMed to JediMaster007 yesterday. I did not PM it to Jedi_Master_007. No wonder you haven't responded to a couple of PMs I sent you.

Alright. Let me try sending this again.

Further Edit: Okay, I re-sent all the stuff that I'd previously sent to an account that didn't actually exist. And now I'm going to eat lunch and try not to feel like a moron about it.

I need the link

For my post, I'm going to wait until JediMaster007 posts in character for Guage, because at this point Josh's post would be to simply follow the Regent into the meeting with the Sheriff.


Meanwhile, I just sent you the advertising link via e-mail, Claymore.

Sounds good Jedi, and nice going Josh, that was fast.
And thanks Jedi, for explaining all that about status while I was out. You've definitely got the right idea.

Also, I've gone back to NPCing Crow till I find out what happened to him... since he's somehow managed to be out longer than me. btw, anyone else notice how he came back out of nowhere the instant I took over his character the first time, after months of leaving it alone...

And Penny, Jedi tells me that you were under the impression you were waiting for me. Well I'm addressing you like this here because it's the last place I haven't yet. The last IC post in your thread was for you, and I sent you an unanswered PM. I really don't know what you need from me. But I need you back, or else I'm going to end up having to NPC your character for a brief time as well.

By the way, and this isn't just directed at Penny, but just because Jedi and I know each other OC doesn't mean it makes any sense to ask him stuff about me or my game. Yeah, he's an Admin. But with regard to that stuff specifically, he's just a middleman, I don't know what you expect from him there. All he can do is relay the messages and order me to post more frequently... which he would do anyway.

My point is, seriously, feel free to PM me folks. Even if I'm away for a few days, I get an email every time a new PM comes in. And that email trips a 'new message' icon on my instant message program, which is on every time I'm on the computer, which is almost every day. Ergo, I know immediately when someone's trying to contact me here. I also have lots of contact info in those little icons below my name. They wouldn't be there if I wanted to be hard to get ahold of. Trillian is a universal messaging program, and I leave it on all the time. I'm on invisible mode when I'm not actually at my computer, but you can still leave messages.

Anyway, finally got things up to speed. If there's anyone who hasn't received an IC post yet, just let me know. Next, I need to get back to a couple games I'm just playing in. Feels good getting back into this.

Check your E-mail. I just sort-of advertised earlier today.

+10 exp to all of your characters for finding a place to post an advertisement for this game and doing so. You must prove your advertisement by pming me the link to your ad.

+5 exp to _one_ of your characters for recruiting a player to this game.

So, the IC thread I am in seems to have fallen asleep, I'm more or less pending an answer from the person i am conversing with.

I'd simply like to push for the St to look into hwo we can proceed that thread, since it is kinda bothersome to have been stuck for more than a month now, waiting for a reply, to an inquiry.

Jedi_Master_007 wrote:You're a lot like Claymore in that the value of "Keep It Simple Stupid" seems to be a lost cause, even though they were both ideals Di Vinci and Einstein both lived by. So on the risk of being rude, I'm going to break it down nice and neat, point by point, in bullet form in hopes that you understand it.

Snip

There. That should've helped. =)

See, that wasn't so hard, was it? Though I will toss in there that the Status/XP rules would probably work well enough for other supernaturals, or even members of various organizations. The main point being that Status is not interchangeable among various groups (though there may well be some exceptions made between allied groups). For example, a Primogen member attempting to apply his Status to a Hunter group would end up as a Status 4 pile of ashes.

You're a lot like Claymore in that the value of "Keep It Simple Stupid" seems to be a lost cause, even though they were both ideals Di Vinci and Einstein both lived by. So on the risk of being rude, I'm going to break it down nice and neat, point by point, in bullet form in hopes that you understand it.

1. The experience to status ratio applies only to vampires. If you're not a vampire, don't worry about it. It doesn't matter and doesn't apply to you.

2. Barring the above, the experience to status ratio is a rough guideline used to determine where your vampire sits in kindred society at large due to their experience and age. Thus, if you've got around 180 experience, it can be assumed you are right on par with individuals who have status 3 in terms of how your actions are perceived by the community at large.

3. The system is also a rough measure of potency. If you were to encounter another kindred with Status 3, it can be assumed they are around 180 experience points, give or take a few here and there.

4. In spite of the rough guidelines, status is not a rule set in stone. Status among kindred society is a fluctuating thing. A mishap in Elysium, a Faux Pas in dealing with a Sheriff, Breaching the Masquerade, and then arguing with the Harpies can take your Status 5 and drop it all the way to Status 0 in the blink of an eye.

5. Status therefore should not be purchased at character creation and instead should be earned within the game. Purchasing the merit at character creation leads to the inevitable waste of merit points.

6. Status in a vampire game only applies to vampires. If you're not a vampire it doesn't matter anyway.

7. The House Rules Claymore wrote regarding Status are old, likely obsolete, and were written with the expectation and idea that Status itself was a static merit, all coming before he realized that Status was not a static merit and that it couldn't be directly relayed to experience.

8. Claymore's House Rules regarding Status was meant to help newbs, including himself, understand what it meant. If you seen an NPC with Status 3, it meant he was pretty badass. If he had Status 6, he was a real badass.

9. When in doubt, and when not content with the Administrator's answer, seek a private consultation with the Storyteller just to clarify that the Admin was correct.

10. If all of the above fails, quit playing this game. It's too complicated.



There. That should've helped. =)

Jedi_Master_007 wrote:It's that way on purpose though. He's specifically kept a low profile the whole time. And again, I don't see why it even matters to you. You don't have and aren't getting status in the kindred community anyway.

It matters because I want to understand how the game systems works - even the ones that don't currently apply to my character. Also, it strikes me as a little odd that if Josh were embraced, he'd jump from Status 0 to Status 2 instantly by virtue of his XP.

It's that way on purpose though. He's specifically kept a low profile the whole time. And again, I don't see why it even matters to you. You don't have and aren't getting status in the kindred community anyway.

Jedi_Master_007 wrote:I don't see where you're having a problem or why. The rules regarding status and experience are pretty Keep It Simple Stupid, which is a milestone for Claymore. =)

It assumes that the character in a vampire game is a vampire. Sorry, you're not a vampire. You could have 5,000,000 experience points and guess what... no vampire is really going to care. Again, it's the flaw for not being a vampire in a vampire game.

My problem is what does Status via experience measure? Does it measure actual, official authority among the Kindred or does it measure unofficial "reputation" instead? Looking at your own character of Gauge, it appears that he has almost 180 XP, which puts him in the ranks of powerful ancillae and closing on the rank of elder. However, he has only 1 point of Status as a Carthian, which marks him as little more than a minor soldier in the Carthian ranks, officially.

I don't see where you're having a problem or why. The rules regarding status and experience are pretty Keep It Simple Stupid, which is a milestone for Claymore. =)

It assumes that the character in a vampire game is a vampire. Sorry, you're not a vampire. You could have 5,000,000 experience points and guess what... no vampire is really going to care. Again, it's the flaw for not being a vampire in a vampire game.

Jedi_Master_007 wrote:Except that Status and Influence are two entirely different things. Status represents your respect while Influence represents your ability to pull strings. Even an Archmage who might be able to command some fear (a healthy dose of Intimidation) or a certain degree of respect (because the Ordo acknowledge that an Archmage is badass) is still never going to walk into an Elysium and command the same Authority or control that a Prince or even a Sheriff will.

The same goes for a werewolf...

And the reverse is true for the vampire. A vampire prince is never going to have that sort of sway with a group of mages. There's no way you can convince me that a barely capable mage who is repeatedly being brushed off by a handful of vampires that _nobody_ respects is going to have any actual pull or status within the kindred community. Some kindred might agree with you here and there, or may even like you, but that isn't reflected by Status. It's Allies and Contacts. As far as giving you / letting you have Kindred Status, I am completely against it, and on top of that, can promise that I will no-sell, or in other words, completely disregard it. It will not ever have any effect on me, and when (not if) I take over in character, I'll end up stripping you of it. That's not a stab at you or me being a dickhead. It's a simple fact that if you want kindred status, play a kindred. You're the one choosing to play a hedge mage in a vampire game. One of the consequences of such is that you get no status among the community.

However, it also means that you can disregard Kindred status too. =)

See where I'm having trouble is in discerning which of Status or Influence is official or unofficial in this game. By the House Rules, Status seems to be unofficial. The idea seems to be that after a Kindred has accumlated 75, or 120 or however much XP that the rest of the community unofficially recognizes him as a force to be reckoned with. So, a Kindred with 240 XP could hold no titles or official duties within city beyond "title to feed in such and such an area" while still being accorded a good deal of respect by the rest of the Kindred in the city. And by the same token, a Kindred with only the 35 XP we start with could invest in a multitude of social Merits representing his "good blood and connections." Thus, he might have quite a bit of official power, but be accorded little respect by the rest of the Kindred.

So, officially, yes, Josh should have no standing in the Kindred court because he's not a Kindred (and not even a Ghoul, for that matter). The question to me is in regards to the "unofficial" standing based on having survived to gain the XP that he's earned.

Except that Status and Influence are two entirely different things. Status represents your respect while Influence represents your ability to pull strings. Even an Archmage who might be able to command some fear (a healthy dose of Intimidation) or a certain degree of respect (because the Ordo acknowledge that an Archmage is badass) is still never going to walk into an Elysium and command the same Authority or control that a Prince or even a Sheriff will.

The same goes for a werewolf...

And the reverse is true for the vampire. A vampire prince is never going to have that sort of sway with a group of mages. There's no way you can convince me that a barely capable mage who is repeatedly being brushed off by a handful of vampires that _nobody_ respects is going to have any actual pull or status within the kindred community. Some kindred might agree with you here and there, or may even like you, but that isn't reflected by Status. It's Allies and Contacts. As far as giving you / letting you have Kindred Status, I am completely against it, and on top of that, can promise that I will no-sell, or in other words, completely disregard it. It will not ever have any effect on me, and when (not if) I take over in character, I'll end up stripping you of it. That's not a stab at you or me being a dickhead. It's a simple fact that if you want kindred status, play a kindred. You're the one choosing to play a hedge mage in a vampire game. One of the consequences of such is that you get no status among the community.

However, it also means that you can disregard Kindred status too. =)

Jedi_Master_007 wrote:Kindred status only applies to kindred. It specifies that right in the rules for status or the Requiem book.

Well, I don't know for certain, but even if it didn't, status among kindred society is not static in the first place, and second, since ghouls don't even get status, a mage who isn't a real mage is going to have even less. As crappy as it sounds, kindred will generally think of your character as a pet or toy, if that makes sense. I'd suggest that Claymore do something with Mages and then give you appropriate status in their categories, because being a magic user with connections to vampires is something that isn't easy to find... yanno?

Well, I don't want him to develop a whole society of Mages just to give Josh something to have Status in. If Mages are going to be an important part of this game, that's one thing. But if they're not, there's no need to bother with building a whole group of them just for one player.

On the other hand, maybe Status in the game should be defined as Supernatural Status more than anything else. That way various people who aren't necessarily Kindred would have Status. Granted that Father Eremet isn't a Kindred, but I'd imagine he's accorded a lot more respect (or at least fear) among the Kindred (and various other supernaturals in the city) than some fresh-from-the-dirt-nap Neonate. Let the normal Kindred Status be defined as Influence (Kindred) or Influence (Covenant) or even Influence (Clan) or some such. Just a couple of thoughts there.

Kindred status only applies to kindred. It specifies that right in the rules for status or the Requiem book.

Well, I don't know for certain, but even if it didn't, status among kindred society is not static in the first place, and second, since ghouls don't even get status, a mage who isn't a real mage is going to have even less. As crappy as it sounds, kindred will generally think of your character as a pet or toy, if that makes sense. I'd suggest that Claymore do something with Mages and then give you appropriate status in their categories, because being a magic user with connections to vampires is something that isn't easy to find... yanno?

I have a question about Status and Influence regarding my character of Joshua. Joshua is a human Sleepwalker (though not a Ghoul) and has accumulated 113 point of XP (130 if merits/skills acquired as in-game awards are counted, and I think they should be). By the House Rules, that would mean that Joshua has Status 2 amoung the Kindred. He is, however, a mortal, so I'm not certain if that Status applies. So, would Joshua have Status 1 (or 2), Influence (Kindred) 1 (or 2) or nothing at all since he's Mortal?

@Claymore: Welcome back!

Cool, I'm looking forward to some IC action for Josh soon.

Oh, by the way, what did you think of my House Rules suggestion regarding Humanity?

Hey all, guess what. I'm online!!
Finally got internet at the new place, so I'll be back with due consistency again. Looks like I've got a lot to get caught up on here.

Jedi_Master_007 wrote:I can answer that. =) We're getting a new thread. I am supposed to start it.

Good enough, I'm ready when you are.