Canon Q&A With Storytellers

[Elizabeth]

Why can't the wraiths be older than the guides? I've got one that fits well with liz's history and he's like 500-ish or so. He's virtually useless since he's been dead since the mid 1500's and was a young vampire when killed, so why can't people have wraiths that are kinda useless knowledge wise, but old?

[Mooncalf]

What brings these raid buildings about? What are we preventing or protecting when the community defeats the bosses? (besides the advantages of EXP, items, and introduction of new enemies.) I've thought about writing a RP about them but I'm not really sure of the correct direction to take.

Gangster hideouts are just hideouts where gangsters are cooking up drugs, or where they have arms stashed, or maybe just where they congregate. The only reason to participate in this raid would be to clear out some scum (or I guess grab some loot without the cops caring too much).

Zombie lairs are buildings owned by rogue necromancers. I'll explain more about this cult of rogue Necromancer NPCs in a later chapter, but let's just say that they don't care about the masquerade, and they are obsessed with summoning undead creatures. Taking these guys down would usually be to lower the alert rating in the city.

The hunter sanctuaries are pretty obvious. They are places where the St. James chapter of hunters have set up base, and where the ancient hunters are housed, directing their followers from the shadows. Taking these down would also be for quite obvious reasons.

A character's reasons for participating in a raid could be anything. It's really up to you guys.

[Mooncalf]

Regarding killing npc's... I always pictured that when you kill a zombie it reanimates later or something like that. But what about gangsters and other human npc's? From an rp viewpoint, do we as the vampires killing them get rid of the bodies, leave them there or whatever we chose? Do Mooncalves reanimate later?

It would be up to you how you want to roleplay getting rid of the bodies (or not).

As for how they return later, that's just a game mechanic thing. Without more enemies spawning we wouldn't have a game.

[Mooncalf]

Meaner things:
1)When shifting into an animal, what happens to things you have on you? Clothes/items/etc.
2)When shifting back into a human, do your clothes return with you/items you were carrying?

The answer to 2 probably depends on the answer to 1, but want to make sure I understand both sides of it.

I like to leave little details like that up to the roleplayer. Vampires are varied in their nature and power specifics, so it's up to you. I don't like to control everything about the roleplay.

I have, in the past, stated that the clothes just stay with you but aren't visible. But it's not a huge deal.

[Mooncalf]

For RP Purposes, Could a Telepath Hijack the airwaves of a Radio Station with Techno., and broadcast using Mindspeak? Is it in the Realm of Possibility?

Mindspeak speaks into minds without words, and radio waves aren't the same thing exactly. Yes a telepath could use technokenisis to hijack a radio with a computer, and they could use that computer to perhaps play things like synthesized voices.

[Mooncalf]

Can a vampire enter a hotel room uninvited?

No. The hotel rooms are still considered abodes.

[Mooncalf]

That explains how a vampire would, but what about a human? I think, though I've never put it to the test, that the grid mechanics allow a human PC to recognize a vampire they know whether or not that vampire is shifted into a bunny. Is that true for the storyline as well (and if so, how does the human recognize the doberman as being such and such specific individual), or is that just a place where the story and the grid do not quite line up?

Yeah it's just one of those things where the grid doesn't match real life exactly. A human wouldn't be able to tell a shifted vampire apart from a normal animal.

[Mooncalf]

I think this might be a canon question and a mechanics question together, but here it goes: Raise Wraith works on dead vampires, huh? That makes sense, when I think about it; I just hadn't realized it since I don't have any ritualists talented enough to play with that one yet. I was wondering, though: What can a vampire brought back this way actually do as a bodiless wraith? Are they restricted in some way, and if so how? How would such a being in wraith form go about raising themselves in a proper solid manifestation (or can they)? Does being a wraith rather than a "living" vampire confer a different set of powers, or block powers they had in life? Does it allow them to enter homes uninvited as the wraith thralls can, or protect them from the blazing pain of the sun? Can they see other wraiths and spirits even without the power Medium? Can they be seen by vampires who do not have said Medium power? (etc, etc)

A PC wraith acts the same as a normal wraith for now. I will probably add a few non-thrall wraith abilities eventually.

A lot of the rest of that are mechanics questions in my mind. If you have a chance to test it (or find somebody who does), it will answer almost all of those questions for you. Basically they act the exact same was as normal wraiths.

[Mooncalf]

Why can't the wraiths be older than the guides? I've got one that fits well with liz's history and he's like 500-ish or so. He's virtually useless since he's been dead since the mid 1500's and was a young vampire when killed, so why can't people have wraiths that are kinda useless knowledge wise, but old?

I haven't revealed how far back vampire history goes yet, so I think it would be best if people kept their wraiths limited to being younger than 600 years old. Not to mention the fact that it takes a great deal of strength to be that old as a wraith and not get swallowed by shadows entirely, and any vampire with that amount of strength would be too powerful for enthralling.

[Dex]

Why can't the wraiths be older than the guides? I've got one that fits well with liz's history and he's like 500-ish or so. He's virtually useless since he's been dead since the mid 1500's and was a young vampire when killed, so why can't people have wraiths that are kinda useless knowledge wise, but old?

I haven't revealed how far back vampire history goes yet, so I think it would be best if people kept their wraiths limited to being younger than 600 years old. Not to mention the fact that it takes a great deal of strength to be that old as a wraith and not get swallowed by shadows entirely, and any vampire with that amount of strength would be too powerful for enthralling.

What about the specific cases of those few Elder PCs who were around howevermuch before the Vampire Holocaust? If they had a wraith before then, and wraith thralls are bound to their vampire, then might they be able to resummon or "reconstitute" their original wraith, once they relearned the power in the modern day?