Mind's Eye Theatre - Vampire The Requiem.pdf - RoseRed

chapter one: society of the damned setting
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Many players and Storytellers like to set their chronicle in the nearest large city — perhaps
the one they live in themselves — or some metropolis they know through books, movies and
TV shows, such as Chicago or New York. Such a setting has the advantage that the players
already know a fair bit about it and can easily learn more. Visits to the library can turn up
all sorts of famous, notorious or merely eccentric people from the city’s history, which might
have infl uenced Kindred history as well. Every signifi cant city also has weirdness in its past and
present, from mass murders to quirky monuments, that can inspire supernatural mysteries.
On the other hand, you may want to invent a fi ctional city. This has the advantage that
you can create whatever history, geography, local celebrities and colorful locations you want.
That’s a lot of work, though, and a lot to keep straight. Players do notice inconsistencies and
may catch you in one if you don’t take adequate notes during play.
Daring troupes may want to try out more unusual settings. In a small city, the coterie could
be the only vampires in town. Such a chronicle consists entirely of their interactions with each
other and the mortals around them. Here, especially, the players and their characters drive
the chronicle. Indeed, the fi rst story could be about how and why they came to the town.
The Kindred abhor both travel and the countryside. That doesn’t make a travel-based or
rural chronicle entirely impossible, though — just very diffi cult. The hazards of travel could fi ll
a chronicle with suspense, as the characters juggle the logistics of their journey with hunting
and staying safe during the day. They almost certainly need ghouls or other Retainers, who
for this purpose might be played as full-fl edged characters. Unlife in a small town or in the
wilderness might also be possible, if the characters possess the right blend of Disciplines and
a great deal of care.
For a very unusual chronicle, perhaps the coterie tries to turn an isolated, small town into
its collective herd. Even if these Kindred can succeed in conditioning, blood bonding or
otherwise subverting the mortal community leaders, how do they persuade or frighten the
rest of the populace into accepting their role as a food source? If they can do that, then how
do they keep the secret from the rest of the world? A wilderness chronicle, meanwhile, would