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An IN NO WAY COMPREHENSIVE listing of what we can take away from the character sheets in City Council of Darkness so far.
Disclaimer: this time last week I did not know a goddamn thing about Vampire: the Masquerade, and I would be thrilled for someone with more grounding in the system to weigh in! However, as a firm believer in the fundamental eroticism of game mechanics, I have been speedrunning all the character building info I can find, and I think the amount of information I'm able to share is more than none!Â
Second Disclaimer: we all know these motherfuckers are not above outright lying on their public-facing character cards -- Van Chapman's secret warlock level says what -- and I am very nearly expecting someone to turn out to have, say, a dark secret that hasn't been disclosed yet.
Sources: Paradox Wikis, White Wolf Wiki, GhoulApp -- I have particularly been having a LOT of fun with GhoulApp and I really recommend it for getting a ground-up sense of how character creation works! -- and several friends who played in college.
The first thing to note is that all these characters, with the notable exception of LaVonte, are absolutely stacked with merits and discipline powers; this was explained in the second Adventuring Party when Lou mentioned that Brennan had given them a fairly high amount of XP to spend in character creation. (V:tM doesn't level in quite the same way as DND or DND-alikes; the XP you earn are basically a currency you can spend on buying upgrades for your character, which are priced according to their desirability. I actually really love this system!)Â
We also learned from that Adventuring Party that they're earning 2 XP per session and Lou noted that he didn't spend any of his in character creation and now has 19, so they had 15 to begin with. I'm absolutely not going to go through and confirm step by step that everyone's XP expenditure adds up, because we're not seeing the entire character sheet and I don't know what Brennan homebrewed or allowed bending of the rules for, but 15 XP is a reasonably high budget. Which makes sense, because these characters are really on their own in Purpee -- if they run into something they're not equipped for, they have basically no chance of getting useful help with it -- and Brennan doesn't like to keep players trapped at punitively low levels for longer than it takes to make a point.
ALL THAT BEING SAID! Breakdowns below the cut. This one got LONG.
La Contesse Madelaine d'Artois
We have her clan confirmed as Toreador, which I have been informed was EXTREMELY SUPER OBVIOUS long before anyone said it. (I am... very intrigued by the decision to not list clans on character cards; more on that later!) sidebar: the Toreador bane in VtM 5e is incredible and I was shrieking with laughter when it actually came up onscreen. MECHANICAL PENALTIES FROM THE AIRBNB JUST BEING UGLY. Oh my god. I need to play one.
We also have it confirmed that her predator type is Siren, which was... also extremely super obvious before Brennan said it in the second AP! This makes her mechanically hot and gives her a potential complication to the tune of an obsessed ex.
Her disciplines are all totally in line with her clan and predator type, nothing needing to be explained there: two Auspex, one Celerity, three totally unsurprising Presence. I think Awe and Premonition are the only discipline powers she's mentioned using, but I could be wrong. (Note that there was the opportunity to diversify into Fortitude from her predator type, which would have been nice for her survivability -- Madelaine is a squish -- but Siobhan obviously knows what this character is about.)
Fun merits and flaws! The two things screaming for my attention are Enduring Bond (READ THE BLOOD BOND PAGE IF YOU HAVEN'T) and Stigmata; so she's really good at enthralling people by feeding them her blood, and also she's going to start bleeding from the hands, feet, and forehead when she hits Hunger 4. I am so normal about both of these facts and can be trusted to know them.
Mawla 2Â -- she's either got two vampiric sugar daddies or one slightly noteworthy one. I believe she's mentioned calling her sire a few times, so that's going to be fun when that happens!
Prestation Debts -- she owes somebody a meaningful favor.
Side Hustler, Check the Trunk -- just useful to have, I think.
ETA: and I hit post immediately before realizing something fucking HUGE, because of course I did -- Madelaine physically cannot eat blood from outside her preferred prey group, which is the motherfucking VENTRUE bane. I think this is Inherited Bane. I think Siobhan has some HUGE off-public-character-sheet secrets. Again.
Mitch "Darkness Man" Frederick
Clan: Nosferatu, helpfully stated by Murph right up front; this is where the Repulsive flaw is coming from, just straight off the bat.
We can also determine that his predator type is definitely Alleycat, based on his access to Celerity and Criminal Contacts -- it's interesting to me that they're not displaying the Humanity tracker on anyone's sheet, actually, but he starts out with an automatic penalty there. Which, you're already throwing all your ability to pass and your non-Intimidation social rolls out the window by going Nosferatu, might as well?
Disciplines are straightforward -- Obfuscate and Potence from his clan, Celerity from his predator style. Has he used any powers? I don't think he has -- someone correct me if I'm wrong! It doesn't look like he invested super heavily there, either; I'm sure Murph spent all his XP, but I'm wondering whether we're seeing everything he spent it on? Or maybe he's saving up for something?
Tempered Will -- and, I mean, also, clearly he spent some of it on THE MOST MURPH ABILITY EVER.
Zealotry -- this might immediately be one of my favorite merits in the game? It's so hilarious.
Shunned -- well, HELLO, backstory hook! This is not just "generally unliked," this is "truly and genuinely fucking pissed off a specific sect and now they're trying to GET you." Which... seems very plausible tbqh.
Also Side Hustler and Check the Trunk, just like Madelaine -- we're really steering into the Idiot Batman thing here. (That single, solitary dot in Intelligence. My god.)
HJ Wingstreet
Clan:Â Ventrue, confirmed and also SUPER SUPER OBVIOUS.
Predator type: okay, so that "Dark Secret: Masquerade Breacher" flew by fast enough on first viewing for me to have had him down as scene queen, but hold onto your fucking butts: I think Masquerade Breacher + Prey Exclusion = consensualist. Which also absolutely fits with what we've seen him doing, actually, and... man, there are some FUN potential fracture lines in this group!
Disciplines: the Ventrue/consensualist-compliant spread of Dominate, Fortitude, Presence, and then the TREMENDOUS GODDAMN MYSTERY that is those two dots in Protean. Where is he getting Protean? I am reasonably sure it's possible for Beardsley to have bought that with their XP, but I am also reasonably sure that out-of-clan disciplines are pricey and there's a lot of other stuff here that also looks expensive? I'm just blatantly speculating here, but I'm not exactly going to have a heart attack from surprise if "Dark Secret: Diablerie" pops up on his sheet at some point... I also legitimately can't remember if we've seen him use any powers, because episode 1 was a fever dream, so get in the comments I guess.
High Functioning Addict -- really, this and the fact that mechanically defined levels of hotness exist just tell you SO much about this game.
Ugly -- SPEAKING OF WHICH.
Stalkers -- oh, this is going to be a good time. This is going to be SUCH a good time.
Fame 1Â -- Beardsley out here making very big choices with this character.
Mask 2Â -- it definitely came up that he's passing as his own grandson, so that makes sense.
Resources 3 -- I mean, at least someone brought cash, MADELAINE.
LaVonte Worthy
Clan: also Ventrue, confirmed, unless I'm absolutely losing my marbles (which I don't think I am but work has been nuts today).
Predator type: I think also consensualist, which is absolutely fucking nuts, but does fully make sense with what we've seen so far.
Disciplines -- okay, someone needs to sit Lou down and double check his work, I think, because even at basic character creation he should have at least one more dot than this from his predator type? But otherwise, standard Ventrue stuff, I don't believe he's used any powers, but... again, fever dream.
Minor Boon -- interesting!!! (Did Brennan give everyone a backstory hook for free? What the fuck.)
Prestation Debts -- interesting chain of owing and being owed being implied here, actually! Ditto for Retainer 1.
Eat Food -- this is SUCH an interesting choice and I don't know specifically why Lou picked it, but I'm intrigued.
Risk Taker -- ... I'm sure Lou Wilson being mechanically incentivized to do insane shit is going to go super normal and fine. I'm sure that will not create any problems whatsoever.
Resources 3 -- wow, is there very possibly a serious power differential baked into this group right now, actually, if HJ and LaVonte ever have a reason to want to hold the line against the other four.
Note also that Lou is sitting on an INSANE number of unspent XP, so I would look for a huge power jump from him next episode!
Zaeth Bondana
Clan -- Brujah, confirmed. Man! Everyone's clans are so clear and kind of obvious at first sight so far! I'm sure that will definitely continue!
Predator type -- okay, cats and kittens, this is where it gets fucking juicy, this is like half the reason I wanted to do this post, because it's right there on his fucking flaw list and Mr. Zac Oyama made a CHOICE with this one. Like. Goddamn. (This is also obviously where he's getting Herd 2.)
Disciplines: Celerity and Presence from Brujah, Animalism from Cleaver. I know we've seen him also use Awe, and I don't think there's been anything else.
I am absolutely positive that he should not have Zeroed without having Mask 2, which unless I blinked at the wrong minute he has not got; I think this is one of two instances of Brennan just letting people take things they don't have the prereqs for but that do kind of make sense.
It's also a wild combination with Fame 1, but I think that's referring specifically to fame within the vampire community.
Also mechanically hot! And illiterate. Again, the CHOICES being made here.
Resources and Retainer are also hilarious things for him to have; I feel like Zac DID specifically choose to just build Daddy's specialest little psychopath here, and that's incredible.
Vesper "Bat Child" Childers
Clan: well, I can't say for certain, but absolutely positively not a fucking Nosferatu. No. Legitimately. There's no way: she doesn't have Repulsive, and her discipline loadout straight doesn't fit. My best guess is that she's an extremely against-type Lasombra? An extremelyagainst-type Hecata is still just about on the table, though, or I think she could potentially also be a caitiff, or this is homebrew bullshit; but she is absolutely, definitively not a Nos. She just looks like that. Because Emily Axford. And I think this is why they actually made the decision to keep clan information off the character cards, because I sense a HUGE shoe about to drop here.
Predator type -- Iron Gullet plus Enemy is saying bagger to me. (This is also, I think, the argument for her being a Hecata -- rules as written, she could have gotten that third dot in Oblivion from being a bagger if she's a Hecata. I don't think she actually is, though, which makes me a little sad, because I am informed no one plays Hecata and I do kind of dig their vibe.)
Disciplines -- so, setting aside caitiff and homebrew bullshit for the moment, she's either a Lasombra who sank XP into Fortitude or a Hecata who sank XP into Potence. And because this is Emily Axford, she's used a SHITLOAD of powers compared to everyone else -- Shadow Cloak, which was kind of a gimme for her, and I believe also Binding Fetter. And Maw of Ahriman, which... I can only assume Brennan thought (CORRECTLY) that it would be hilarious.
Custodian of History: Zoology -- so either Brennan bent the rules to let her take this (almost definitely the case) or that shoe that's about to drop is a motherfucker.
Knowledge Hungry: Zoology -- she's mechanically weak to fun animal facts and I love her.
Folkloric Block: Bells -- this is so cute and funny and I am certain Emily is definitely not planning to destroy us with it.
Machine Shop -- is this another thing she shouldn't have? I don't see any Haven dots. Weird.
I could not get a screenshot of Zealotry 2, but she has Zealotry 2. She gets to do that TWICE. Amazing. Incredible. No notes. I think I love this game.
If you'd asked me in 2005 which (relatively) mainstream tabletop RPG would be the first to lift Weapons of the Gods' loresheet gimmick, Vampire: The Masquerade would not have been my first guess, but in retrospect it seems only natural the World of Darkness would adopt a rules toy that gives you mechanical bonuses for reading microfiction.
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As the polls all came back inconclusive, thanks need to be given to @hollymcruvie for pointing out that instead of running more polls, I could just create two vampires - a gothic lolita criminal Malkavian, and a trad goth reporter Gangrel.
I worked out all their stats, and started with the Gangrel design first. Modern trad goth styles are interesting, but they felt far too pristine and feminine for the character I had in mind, so I looked at old photographs from the Batcave for some more varied inspiration. The 80s had a lot of very androgynous styling which I love so I gave Michael a more mature, angular face, and clothes that were less romantic and closer to goth's post-punk roots. I like the idea of this character embracing a scrappier, darker, more androgynous style after they left their life in front of a camera behind.
My copy of Vampire: the Masquerade is a second edition copy from 1992 with some really fun 90's comic book style art in it, which I had a go at emulating in my own style through experiments with screentone and solid shadows. It was a lot of fun - I better get going with vampire #2!
