#heywizards

Hi hi! Sorry this took a bit - I wanted to be sure I had the time to answer properly!

An excellent question... so to start let me do a basic rundown of her Embrace story. She was going to be Embraced by her Father - be a pride of the Hidalgos - but then the Sabbat interrupted the event and she escaped to America with Nyth as just a ghoul. Noa then had to convince Don Rothstein of Vegas and his peers of her worth and pulled some dramatic stunts and got the backing of a Giovanni main branch Auntie named Gianna. She wasn't Embraced until her 30th birthday, one of the reasons she panicked and tried so hard and did the things she did to convince them to turn her. Gianna Giovanni is her sire, so if she was Embraced CAITIFF that would cause a massive stir I think.

I wrote Gianna to be kind of the feminist fire-starter within the clan - they're already old-school and it's the 80s/90s here in Vegas so you know things aren't amazing for women in-clan - so to have her have a Caitiff childe would probably be a blow to her credibility. IF it gets out Noa is Caitiff.

Granted I have not played Caitiff before so I don't know mechanically the extent of how obvious it is! If Noa can still learn necromancy and etc, I think she could be "hidden" for a long time. How obvious is it to someone when you're "born wrong?" I suppose Noa would be learning Necromancy but it would be an uphill climb because it would technically be "out of clan" for her at that point?

Noa is extremely prideful and hardly self-doubts unless she is at a LOW, LOW point, so I think she would at first be upset if she knows, but then pull herself up by the boot straps and use this as proof that she is worthy of her necromancer title because she has to work extra hard AND still succeeds. I think her and Nyth in that sense would be even more bonded because they're both underdogs at that point who can support the other - though it may be a little harder for them to get access to resources depending on how much the Family is aware of her being different.

I think - if she can remain hidden - the part that would change the most is her ability to experience intimacy with others. She wouldn't have the Lamia bite, so if she figures that out, she'd possibly be able to connect with mortals a bit easier? Perhaps she'd actually get close to her ghoul, Julian, maybe Joaquin would've had a chance if she got her teeth in him? One of the reasons she loses her tolerance of Joaquin is that he wanted so many physical things but refused to be Embraced, so she could not experience the same levels of intimacy as a Kindred that he could. In her current Giovanni state, she is very pro-VAMPIRE and barely thinks of mortals aside from vessels of blood and ghouls because she can't really connect with them (or at least choses not to due to how she was raised) so I think being allowed to do the Kiss on them may change her outlook a bit! Noa is blood Giovanni so even if she were Caitiff, she'd be proud of HERSELF. Especially with Nyth at her side, I think she would eventually selfgrandize enough that she and him are the coming of a new Hecata that is more accepting of other bloodlines while still being under the big umbrella so to speak. They're the Hecata that may not be GIOVANNI but they embody the connection between the living and dead. These two really love themselves haha.

God it really is cool to think about, thank you for asking me to dive deeper on it!! I hope I answered well enough!

Banu Haqim, Lasombra, Salubri, Caitiff, Church of Caine, Nephilim

😁🦇 thank you!

hello wiz! i mostly do pain and suffering in VtR, i've been playing for nearly two years and it is my special little vampire game, so i'll gladly tell you all about addison and what she's suffering through :] (my dms are open if you want to know more details about things, i loooove to yap about addie and vtr specifically because i have the most wonderful st and coterie) if anyone wants to send asks and/or reblog the ask meme, find it here!

Note: Addison is a Vampire: the Requiem Nosferatu. She is currently not yet aligned with one of the five covenants since she's only been a vampire for like five months.

Banu Haqim - What's the worst punishment your OC has received? Have they given any punishments out? How was it handled?

The worst punishment was probably when her girlfriend broke up with her... But they're kind of on the mend since last session! The closest thing to Addie giving out a punishment was when her coterie got presented with the guy who supposedly sent the Chechen mob after them. They decided to give him to the baron of the Bronx to try and find out who was behind the attacks... so that's how that was handled. It ended less than ideally though... with the guy being boobytrapped and exploding - nearly taking out the baron and his right-hand man... so oopsies.

Lasombra - What's the most ruthless thing your OC has done? Why?

Addison is actively responsible for the deaths of at least four people. Granted, she considered them evil, but these men would have been alive had it not been for her. In an attempt of her sire to get her more in tune with her Nightmare-powers, he dragged her onto a subway where three drunk men were threatening sexual and physical violence against women. Addison convinced the one with the knife that his friends were trying to attack him, so she pitted them against each other and took care of number three. She has little remorse for that, because she justified it by her sire being there and also they were trying to stab her at one point so it was just self defense... The fourth guy... the coterie got ambushed by Chechen mobsters and they had managed to capture one of them before a car chase ensued. In an attempt to deter the car behind them, Addison threw the guy they had captured into traffic on the Cross-Bronx highway. Once again: self defense. One of her coterie members was literally missing half her face at this point, so it's justified, right?

Salubri - Ignore how many dots in Humanity there are. In your opinion, what's your OC's humanity like?

Addison probably has the highest sense of humanity out of all of my vampires. She tries to do what's best for the biggest amount of people, as well as stand up against wrongdoing (to a point where she nearly fought another reeve for talking down to his childe in her presence) and helping people where needed. Compared to the rest of her coterie even, she's the one who's most in contact with her touch stone. She was barely at the start of her life when she was murdered and brought back, and she most of all wants to make it worth it. Also yes I know how this sounds after just describing the amount of death Addie's responsible for <3

Caitiff - Would you say your OC is quite individualistic or do they conform to their Clan stereotype?

In a way, the answer to this one is both. She's individualistic in the sense that she's not at all big on using her Nightmare-powers and tries her best to be a good person, but for some reason the clan stereotype we as a coterie have, is that Nosferatu are the chillest kindred out there. It's because we haven't met very many yet (Addison, her sire, and a Nosferatu Addison pretty much adopted are the main ones) and they're probably the chillest clan if you're looking at those three. But yea. Nosferatu supposedly embody fear and thus fear no one, but if she's gotta be honest, she's terrified a solid 90% of the time.

Church of Caine - Does your OC have any religious/ Kindred beliefs?

If anything, Addison thinks there's no such thing as God. You'd think she might lean pagan, with her sire being the harpy to the Circle of the Crone, but even that's not really enticing to her. She barely believes in herself, so believing in something greater than her is... not really something she's very much into. She's flirting with the Ordo Dracul, though. But that's because the harpy suggested she might sing again. If they believe in a God, maybe that'll change her mind on the whole ordeal.

Nephilim - What pleasures does your OC get out of their (un)life?

Oh this is SUCH a fun messy one! It'll be a LONG one too so grab a drink lol. Content warning up top for toxic relationships in that fucked up kindred way as Inigo and Valentina are exes.

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Inigo's not a bad sire, especially by kindred standards. He outright disagrees with the Camarilla treating her as his property, and doesn't follow that in their own company, or among other sects. He views her as an equal, and treats her as such, even going as far as to always call her progeny instead of childe since the latter is usually derogatory.

That said, Inigo wouldn't say he's better than his own sire, Darios because they're on very good terms like father & son. Which makes it extremely difficult for Inigo to measure up. Darios was older when he was embraced, and had a lot more resources at his disposal to properly teach Inigo the ropes of being a kindred and navigating kindred politics. Inigo doesn't have that luxury, and embracing Valentina wasn't his choice. He does his best, but definitely doesn't know everything. Thankfully, Darios is a mawla to Inigo, so he doesn't hesitate to ask his own sire for advice, and since Valentina was a hunter she already knew a lot of the basics.

As far as mistakes go, Inigo blames himself for setting Valentina on a path to be a serial diablerist. Though he never actually encouraged it, in the early months after her embrace, Inigo was her blood bag, and she was a blood leech because she refused to feed on humans. So he's still the reason she got a taste for kindred blood. :) He only agreed to it because he wasn't going to make her violate her own principles (as a knight himself), and, well...both of their mental healths were shitfucked enough that one of them - probably Inigo - would have gotten killed hunting animals.

Inigo is still kinda working through his very complicated feelings about being fed on by his ex that he's not over. AND, here's a fic if that interests anyone. Mind the content warnings, that fic explores the nature of The Kiss explicitly.

Thankfully that situation is no longer ongoing, and hopefully the serial diablerie problem is fixed too.

As far as proud moments go, there are a few. For one, Inigo's managed to change a hunter's view on all kindred being monsters, and one that comes from a family of them at that. Himself and the coterie have proven themselves to actually be good-hearted and trying not to cause more harm than necessary. Two, at the encouragement of his partner Bren, Inigo has been letting himself be more earnestly kind and comfortable with Valentina. He'd previously kept his distance emotionally because he still has romantic feelings (as does she) and Inigo is deeply afraid of things getting messy again because of the previous feeding situation. That said, it seems like it's been better for both of them.

How neat/messy is your kindred's home? Why?

It depends on how well he’s doing mentally. When he’s doing fine, Gerard takes an obsessive interest in his home, making sure that it is perfectly decorated and organized. It’s a way of exerting his will, creative expression, and an optimization project - all enjoyable things.

When he’s not, dealing with his surroundings becomes an unnecessary indulgence, and once the mess gets out of hand because he can’t bear to force himself keep up with even basic household tasks, a source of shame intensified by the way it used to be a source of pride.

If they're old: what's a modern convenience they enjoy? If they're young: what's something from the past they wish they got to do?

Gerard’s at a weird spot where, to everyone older than him, he’s young, but everyone younger considers him old. Almost seventy years isn’t that long, comparatively, but that was all in the 20th century. He grew up without a washing machine, and refrigerators were luxuries his family couldn’t afford, but by the time he was an adult, he had access to all sorts of fancy home gadgets, and was fully aware of how much of a game changer they are.

So for both. The internet is amazing. Being able to have access to all that information from anywhere in the world at all times, delivered to you in instants is science fiction stuff. Every few years he downloads Wikipedia, in case something terrible happens, because now that he has it, he never wants to live without it.

Most of history before he was born sounds miserable to him. It might be interesting, seeing the Renaissance, arguing in the forums of Athens, or witnessing Tremere and his inner circle coming up with the first principles of thaumaturgy, but it doesn’t seem worth it to spend every nighttime hour surrounded by fire as your only illumination. That sounds like hell. All his elders lived in hell.

Favorite book/show? Why?

Gerard’s favorites are all tomes of power that contain revelations that would drive lesser men insane and drives him all the way to its brink. He likes those because of the power and revelations, obviously. Other than that, he likes reading journals about science, technology, math and the arts. That is what he does for fun.

Sort of similar with TV, where he's all about documentaries, news programs, etc. At one point a VHS tape of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos was one of his prized possessions, and now he’s got an SSD with that, and all his music, and that’s exciting. All that, in the palm of his hand! Immortality is very exciting. Yet another priceless gift from his sire.

Do they prefer mortal or kindred company when it comes to everynight existence?

Other vampires always have some sort of agenda, and they’re always judging you based on how well you can serve that. If you can find some people who are open about their agendas, and have ones you’d be happy to serve, then you’re mostly golden. If you’re extremely lucky, they’ll also be pleasant company, but that’s not a given. With younger vampires, the stakes are lower, since they don’t usually have the leverage to force you into anything, so they’re easier to handle. Besides, it’s rewarding helping people find their footing in a strange and difficult new world.

With kine, you don’t have to go through this whole ordeal, but instead you have to spend all your time lying to them about the most important parts of your life, which means your relationships are inevitably going to be shallow. It’s hard enough for Gerard to deal with anyone who isn’t Tremere, since thaumaturgy is the thing that consumes almost all of his waking thoughts. At least most of the rest of those thoughts are things he can talk about with anyone - art, architecture, science, football. That can be fun, but it gets tiring explaining why you keep weird hours and disappear for long periods of time to do things you can’t explain.

The real answer is that he’s most comfortable with ghouls, and not necessarily his own. Their agendas are just whatever their masters’ are, and you can usually talk plainly with them without breaking the Masquerade. He won’t admit it, but part of that is because he still sees himself as a ghoul who got promoted because his sire thought he’d be more useful that way, and not a full vampire. They’re the only ones who understand perfectly normal, natural things like how important it is to obey your superiors without question. They’re the only ones who aren’t kidding themselves about being used, and if they are, they’re the only ones with good excuses to lie to themselves over it.

so i was invited to play d&d 4th edition with some LARP friends when i was taking a gap year off from college, i was some kind of chain-cleric (invoker?). i had been looking at ttrpgs for a while, stuff like chuubo's marvelous wish-granting engine, because of its crossover applications in my LARP design. shortly afterwards i started running monsterhearts and savage worlds for my friends, and i started running d&d 5e when i got back to college