Kindred-test

10 THINGS LOST OR FORGOTTEN IN LARP

#1 - LARP is an adaptation of TABLETOP. It is simplified greatly but tries to mimic the origional. if you want to know more about the supernatural nature of a power, check out the description in a tabletop book! Entrancement does far more than make you be only veiled in your contempt of me. The Tremere are not just a vehicle for a swiss-army-discipline, they are a highly organized occult brotherhood! There is a richness of the setting that seems very much lost on those who's only experience of vampire has been LARP.

#2 - Na na na na na na na na - VAM-PIRE! Disciplines are NOT a damned bat-belt of tricks and neat-o powers you can fling at your opponent like pokemon. Alot of people who have gotten into the 'LARP-rut' seem to think it is a game of collecting shiny powers, and throwing them at each other every opportunity they get. These poor, mislead folks beleive that they can 'win' the game by collecting ungodly amounts of power, and crushing anything that moves with it. They seem to think being able to recite litanies of what powers come from what disciplines makes them a good Vampire player. They are wrong, it makes them good rules lawyers, and in a game where White Wolf's Golden Rule holds precedence, they are nothing but irritances, like hemroids or speed bumps.

#3 - The Golden Rule of White Wolf, found in every one of thier systems. If it does not seem familiar to you, you most likely have only really looked for cool powers in sourcebooks rather than reading about playing the game, or how to storytell it. The Golden Rule states: "...when the rules and needs of the story conflict, the story should always take precedence..."

#4 - "you win... Death..." - What the fuck?! It's a small world when you're mortal. Imagine an insular society of undying creatures where your greatest fear is death - and SLAY HIM is the most common answer?! I understand that a player can always write up another charecter, and I have watched some gems from heaven write up more than 8 in a week - but lets face it - the supply of vampires is NOT infinite! There is this disease of stupidity that has infected LARP that has so many people thinking that you can just kill another vampire, no worries. THIS SOCIETY OF UNDEAD PREDATORS HAS HELD THE RIGHT TO DESTROY ONE ANOTHER AS SACRED AND GUARDED SINCE BEFORE THE CAMARILLA AND THE SABBAT WERE INTELLECTUAL CUM BUBBLES!!! For fuck's sake, killing is not the answer that your vampire should always come to! Immortality consists largely of boredom, why kill an enemy when you can screw with thier world for the next 80 years? Or 200? I mean, what else ya gonna do with yourself to stave off eternity's endless reel?

#5 - Democracy - The Camarilla is NOT a democracy. LARPers seem to think every Prince is bound to have a Primogen from each Clan, that each should have a vote, blah blah. How often have we heard "I am a Nospheratu, and you must respect me for I am blah, blah, blah..." It's your clan flaw dung-face, no one likes you. Suck it up. The Camarilla is not the Super Friends - it is a gathering of disparate Clans - it is filled with infighting, and centuries old grudges. Screw the 'rights' you think you have, if the Elders find it convenient, you have none. We - as players - tend to think in terms of mortal governments because we are... well... mortal. Vampires are not. Think Monarchy where the old just kinda never die. It's like working in a union but everyone above you in seniority will never die or retire without outside assistance.

#6 - "I've lost 6 ghouls this week alone!" - and that is someone with a 7 humanity?! The focus of this game has been tilted horribly askew by the habit of focusing a game around Elysium nights - as if Elysium were a regular event, like an undead tea party. This makes players feel as though they are monsters struggling against other monsters - as opposed to monsters hiding in a vast ocean of mortals. Focus leaves being a wolf in sheep's clothing and it becomes a heavy fisted discipline race. "Vampire: A storytelling game of personal horror" seems to have lost the struggle against the beast and the fight for one's humanity in LARP. What were VERY central game mechanics and concepts have become ignored. Ghouls are servants, THEY ARE PEOPLE, a humanity 7 vampire mourns and finds real grief in the loss! Those were his friends! In tabletop, if you fail you conscience roll, you loose humanity points. That means if you do not feel bad about it, you are dropping in humanity! This game is not about supernatural garbage-disposals meat grinding every mortal they can feed thier blood to - do that and pay the price.

#7 - The Price - How many of you know what Wassail is in the Vampiric sense? (And I am not talking about punch.) Wassail is the FINAL frenzy, it is pretty much unknown in LARP, but is a HUGE consideration in tabletop. It is the whole point to Paths - it is the final victory of the Beast over what was you. It is one of the worst fates a vampire can suffer according to them - to become a mindless beast doomed to be hunted and killed without mercy by his own kind. Players suddenly stop thinking that blowing up half a city, killing 100,000 people is a good idea when they realize it will make them a historic mass murderer, and shred what little moral fiber they cling to to sustain thier sanity.

#8 - Clans, not Caricatures - Malkavians are insane, they are not cutesy, they are not silly, they are not bubbly, bouncing jesters. They are goddamned loopy on a cracker! You! The one playing the Malkavian with (wait for it...) multiple personalities, wearing a tutu and mooing through the Primogen meeting, yeah YOU! I sentence you to go live in a psych ward for 2 months. We'll see how Punch & Judy you are then, you wanker. Malks are disturbing, malks may seem cute, but they are insane to a one. And it gets tiring seeing the same old "insanities" barely played. RESEARCH your role! Read up on various mental disorders, figure out how to play that, figure out the whys & wherefores. The internet is out there, you have no excuse!

#9 - Disciplines reflect personality - Although members of a Clan will develop along similar lines, the development of disciplines is a very personal matter. It is not like there are training courses like "Celerity 101" out there. Disciplines are supposed to be a supernatural reflection of the vampire him/herself and thier bloodline. Don't go telling me that your vampire who balks at the idea of psychic phenominon is developing Auspex - it doesn't fit one iota. Don't develop a discipline for what powers you think sound neat, or you can mook-math into 44 ag per round - develop ones that make sence for your charecter!

#10 - You cannot 'WIN' Vampire. You can't. Not in a conventional sense that is. It is not Monopoly, Risk or anything of the sort - it is a storytelling game. You "win" by telling a good story. You are not your charecter. your charecter is NOT just an amalgam of stats you use to try to 'win' by taking over the city with. They are a whole person who has become an undead monster and you are telling thier story. You can 'win' even when a charecter dies by telling thier story well - something alot of LARPers seem to have forgotten.