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

preludes chapter one: • assembling society of the damned coterie
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• The Sire’s Ready Hand: A group of allied Kindred carefully choose the characters to
form a group of elite agents. Each character brings special skills and mortal connections to
the coterie. The characters probably had little choice about their Embrace, or about working
together. They might have been manipulated, deceived or coerced outright. Such a situation
can link all the character preludes into one tale of terror, while introducing the characters to
the goals and confl icts that will drive the chronicle.
• As The Prince Commands: For a variation, the characters might be Embraced for
personal reasons, but the city’s Prince calls them together some time later and assigns them
a particular task or responsibility. The characters might be tied by nothing more than a
handshake or by the power of a common Vinculum to the one who assembled them. Aside
from this shared duty, however, the characters do not need to have anything in common.
In fact, they might hate each other. Such a coterie can be diffi cult to play. If the players and
Storyteller work to fi nd ways for the characters to set aside or work through their differences,
however, it can lead to some intense roleplaying and Storytelling.
Both of these two premises for a coterie have the advantage that they can accommodate
characters of any clan or covenant. The players and characters also receive a well-defi ned goal.
(Of course, the stated goal might turn out not to be the real challenge at the heart of the
chronicle.) On the other hand, some players deeply dislike playing characters who have to take
orders. If that’s the case, either don’t use this premise at all, or quickly lead the characters out
of their subordinate position. The Kindred who oversees them might meet his Final Death,
or the characters might fi nd a reason and opportunity to rebel.
• Outcasts: The characters are pariahs in Kindred society. Perhaps each character did something
so shameful that other Kindred despise them. Perhaps a character’s sire was destroyed
for some crime, and her childer inherit her disgrace. Perhaps a character exiles himself to
escape a tyrannical sire. Whatever the reason, the characters have no one to rely on but each
other, at least among their fellow vampires. Some characters might seek to acquire enough
power or prestige to rejoin Kindred society, or clear their names of a false accusation. Others
might simply band together to carve out their own hunting turf and defend it from other
Kindred. A coterie of outcasts might even declare war on the other Kindred. For instance,
a coterie of diablerists becomes outcast the moment any other Kindred discover their goal.
Stalking and slaying older Kindred offers such a coterie a fast track to supernatural power,
at least in terms of their Blood Potency, but it carries grave risks and exacts a terrible price
on the character’s souls.
• Spirits of Like Mind: The predatory and territorial nature of the Kindred does not prevent
them from forming relationships based on shared experiences and common interests. A
shared belief or goal could draw together Kindred from diverse clans, and perhaps even from
different covenants (though the covenants are themselves based on common interests).
A coterie might share a relatively straightforward goal, such as the aforementioned outcasts
who work together to seize a common hunting ground against the opposition of more powerful
but solitary Kindred. Common enemies, such as a force of Lupines or mortal mages systematically
destroying the city’s Kindred, offer another simple reason to work together. A coterie
could also follow political goals, such as the sample plot’s revolt against a tyrannical Prince,
or protecting mortal society from undead manipulation. Characters might feel confl icts of
loyalty between their common goal and any ties to their clan, covenant or sire.
CONFLICT WITHIN THE COTERIE
Some of these coterie premises assume a greater or lesser degree of confl ict between the
characters. Both you and your players might want to discuss the degree of internal confl ict