Teach Me How: NPC Characters - Episode 149

Explicit content warning

01/03/20 • 41 min

Welcome once again to our holiday special edition bonanza extravaganza! In this episode, we talk about creating and playing believable and unique NPC characters. Characterization for an entire game can be difficult and overwhelming, but also one of the most rewarding aspects of storytelling.
There are TONS of resources out there for creating characters - both for gaming and for general fiction. Below are a bunch of Vampire: the Masquerade character resources that may help guide you in right direction:
Who’s Who Among Vampires: Children of the Inquisition is one of the early examples of character-specific sourcebooks for Vampire: the Masquerade. It contains 13 elders who’ve experienced the great jyhad through the ages. It is a great example of the early years of vampire characterization.

Storytellers Handbook: Yeah, it’s old. Yeah, it’s also dated. However, it is still an excellent resource for the timeless art of storytelling and characterization, which is all THIS actually is.

Encyclopaedia Vampirica is another book full of characters, concepts, and ideas specifically for vampire games.

This is by no means and exhaustive list of books that’ll help you with NPC/SPC concepts and characterization. For sure, you should get out there and do some exploration on your own time!

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Storytellers Handbook: Yeah, it’s old. Yeah, it’s also dated. However, it is still an excellent resource for the timeless art of storytelling and characterization, which is all THIS actually is.

Encyclopaedia Vampirica is another book full of characters, concepts, and ideas specifically for vampire games.

This is by no means and exhaustive list of books that’ll help you with NPC/SPC concepts and characterization. For sure, you should get out there and do some exploration on your own time!

Support the show

https://linktr.ee/25YearsOfVtM

Previous Episode

Teach Me How: Feeding Scenes - Episode 148

In this episode of Teach Me How!, Nate and Bob talk about strategies and processes for running a meaningful feeding scene in Vampire: the Masquerade. While any of the ideas and concepts we speak about in this podcast can (and do) apply to V5, we don’t explicitly talk about the feeding styles found in the updated game. Sorry. At the time of this recording, we just didn’t have the depth of knowledge to talk about humors and predator styles.
However, if you want to story-tell the ACT of feeding so that it impacts your game and players, this is the Teach Me How! for you.

While every Corebook in the Vampire: the Masquerade line talks about feeding and running scenes for such, there’s no specific Vampire sourcebook dedicated to the act. Vampire: the Masquerade 5th edition (V5) has done a great job at shifting focus back to the act of feeding from mortals. If vampires don’t drink blood, are they even vampires?
One book that I think can really help to influence a storyteller looking to run feeding scenes is Ghouls: Fatal Addiction. This book talks about the aforementioned ghouls - those that serve the denizens of the night. This book details the odd supernatural bonds of the blood, the addiction that can come with it, and how feeding can impact a human life.
Another book we strongly suggest to any new player or storyteller is Book of the Kindred; an anthology of fiction dedicated to telling the stories of Vampire. This book may be a bit rudimentary for some advanced players but it’s worth going through to get a feel for the world. It’s over 20 years old, but it’s a great primer for Vampire: the Masquerade.

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Next Episode

Chicago by Night 5th Edition - Episode 150

Welp, we’re back from holiday full of colds and cough drops to bring you a new review! We figured, in honor of 2020, the New Year, yada yada, and etc., we’d dive into a review of the upcoming Chicago by Night 5th edition coming soon from Onyx Path Publishing. The Chicago by Night project was launched on Kickstarter back on October 30th of 2018 and funded in 30 days. We are now poised to finally have physical copies in hand very soon, with (we assume) general sales of the book to begin shortly thereafter. After nearly a year sitting on this book, waiting to do a general front-to-back review, it’s time to dig in!

Just to clarify, this is not the “5th Edition” of Chicago by Night. This is Chicago by Night for the 5th edition of Vampire: the Masquerade. You can purchase the first edition here and the second edition here. Additionally, there is a three volume set that collects the entire Chicago Chronicles that you can purchase here, here, and here to get you up to date on all things Chicago in the World of Darkness.
Chicago by Night was written by Jiba Molei Anderson, John Burke, Matthew Dawkins, Jose Garcia, Klara Horskjær Herbøl, Kira Magrann, Crystal Mazur, Juhana Pettersson, Lauren Roy, Myranda Sarro, Malcolm Sheppard, Chris Spivey, Mike Tomasek, Allen Turner, Rachelle Udell, Eddy Webb and Meredith Gerber for Onyx Path Publishing and is scheduled for a Feb. 1st, 2020 release.

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