Blood lines

Discussion about the game: rules, character descriptions, questions, etc
duncan
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Re: Blood lines

Post by duncan »

I like the combo-bloodlines, the Licinii are definitely cool and fit the setting. I also approve of the Sta-Au (without the dumb numina crap), as long as it is a Mekhet-Gangrel only bloodline... as much as it would kick ass to join from Daeva. White Wolf's inability to grasp the concept of "combat cheese" when creating the Moroi aside, they are pretty interesting, if you give them "Nightmare, Potence, Fortitude, Protean" instead of stupid crap. Oh woe is me to be a "tool" of a covenant and all that jazz. And the Kuufukuji are a good merger for Mekhet-Daeva. Although they should have just one set of disciplines, maybe Auspex, Celerity, Presence, and their wacky thing. Just need a Daeva-Ventrue bloodline to seal the deal.

Here's the other bloodlines I would like to see:
Noctuku (they're pretty decent as creepy-degenerate Nos, and will play the humanity angle well)
Larvae
Usiri (if you're going with the Khaibett and/or Setites. Although their unique power is kinda dumb)
Malkovians (they're just awesome without any custom discipline)
Macellarius (very family oriented, and very bizarre)
Septemi (interesting conflict for the setting perhaps)
Spina (fantastic. power is a bit confusing.)
And... dunno. Haven't had time to read all the bloodlines, their pasts and their powers. Some powers are so badass I would never approve them, and some are so blowtastic you wonder how their progenitor didn't just commit honorable seppaku after buying the fifth dot. I also think that the uniqueness of bloodline powers makes little or no sense - why wouldn't some Nos, perhaps, after observing a Khaibett, decide to make his own bloodline incorporating Obtenebration and Nightmare? The Lygos for example, are pretty neat, and should TOTALLY have Obten based on concept. Ah well.

Duncan
Kyle Morris
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Re: Blood lines

Post by Kyle Morris »

Hmm, been spending some time reading through Bloodlines from various sources. I'm going to pick two bloodlines to support and two to oppose for each clan, just to throw my ideas out.

Daeva

For the Daeva I would suggest bloodlines like the Spina and the Duchagne. The former is a bloodline that could have some interesting effects on the setting if they are one of the more common types. As far as the Duchagne go, I was thinking of a bloodline that could reflect some of the decadence we have come to associate with ancient rome.

I would not recommend the En (way too powerful and I don't want to deal with demon possessed En running around if they're common) or the Zelani (too new, if I recall correctly they would barely have started as a bloodline by this time period)

Gangrel

For the Gangrel I would suggest the Taifa (to give the Gangrel a social option in lieu of their usual physical one) and the Larva because I find the idea of this group coming back at the same time as the Legion to add some more tension and angles to the story.

Bruja wouldn't make much sense in the setting, it's way too early to include them. And the Bogandhe have a rather nasty discipline that I'd rather not deal with in the campaign.


Mekhet

Among the Mekhet the Morbus are reprinted in Requiem for Rome so I feel we should include them. There could be modern Morbus and Roman Morbus, and that could lead to some interesting interactions. Given the time period I would also give a serious look to the Brothers of Ypres given that they were founded during the Great War because of the chemical warfare that was being used.

Lynx are a very modern bloodline, so they won't be included. The Agonistes might have been interesting, but I feel that their bloodline flaw is rather crippling, and wouldn't lead very well to them being PCs.

Nosferatu

I think the presence of the Yagnatia could add a new direction for the Nosferatu to explore, and with the recent Russian Revolution and the strong Crone presence in the city it could make sense for some to have found their way to New York. And as someone who first played Nosferatu in oWoD I am amused by the idea of their being Noctuku lurking around, something to really drive home the monstrous nature of the clan.

The Azerkatil are pretty nasty, let's leave them out. And I don't feel that the Burakumin really fit well into the setting on any level, so leave them out.


Ventrue

Again for the sake of being different, I would put forward that there could be Rotgrafen in the city who were perhaps active in New York City and displaced by the Brood. If you want to do a Ventrue bloodline that does combat, I can't think of a better one. With the Roman Legions coming back, I think having some Licinii around could make perfect sense.

Melissidae, kill it with fire. Let's not have them around, I don't want a hive of these things in our city. And as much as I enjoyed playing one last game, let's keep the Architects out of this game just to be different.
bcarbone1
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Re: Blood lines

Post by bcarbone1 »

Daeva
Anvari
Euphraxus
Colin
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Re: Blood lines

Post by Colin »

Ok, I like the idea of two good and two bad for each clan (ie, two I would like to see and two I would like not to see), so here we go.

Daeva: I like the Spina as enforcers of courtesy and courtly etiquette, so throw them in there. Also, I like the idea of adding some historically intriguing bloodlines for the time period, so I feel like the Californian Xiao would be a good fit here as well as provide some interesting tension as their cells had yet to be wiped off the east coast by this date.
I have to echo the sentiment to unilaterally ban the En because they are absolutely silly both mechanically and fluff-wise. Also the Eupraxus in that they are A: silly (seriously dominate, nightmare, AND majesty!?) and a really tiny bloodline with like 7 members in the modern era, not to mention the 1920s.
Gangrel: Larvae would be neat as a throwback to the Roman era, so go for them. Conceptually the Taifa are a good idea, because social bloodlines are a good fit for the game, so yes to them.
As far as the Mystikoi go, I like 'em conceptually but they wouldn't really fit the games themes, so I vote them down. The Bohagande's bloodline discipline is a little too ridiculous, so no to them as well.
Mekhet: The Morbus are cool beans being both a modern and ancient bloodline, so there's a lot of potential for interesting conflict. I would like to see the Sangiovanni, and they work best in a game where there's potentially a lot of them, so they're cool to be there in my book.
While the Brothers of Ypres would make sense, there's a lot of conceptual overlap between them and the Morbus and the Morbus just have more reason to be there. Also the Család are very clickish but also very confined to Eastern Europe and thus a little silly in Rochester, NY
Nosferatu: I would like to see the Yagnatia for their historical relevance to the period and to the setting at the moment (big Crone presence, social arena, etc.). The Cockscomb Society makes sense for a lot of the same reasons (though the historical relevance is different, obviously, and there's not so much on the Crone presence).
Azerkatil are really really really cool but also don't make a lot of sense here and are also really cheesy (and I should know), so no to them. Also no to the Cimitere because they don't exist yet (sorry I can't find a lot of nos for Nosferatu :/ )
Ventrue: The Bron are pretty cool and I can't think of any reason NOT to include them (which is a problem I'm having with the fluff of just about all the Ventrue bloodlines), so I will also say the Geheim because I love them to bits.
As far as no? Melissidae. Just...just no. Also the fact is the Adrestoi don't have a weakness so much as an advantage, so...no Adrestoi either.
Other stuff: I like the Licinii for their historical significance and the idea of a combo bloodline is executed much better in them than in the Moroii. And a lot of people seem to be clamoring for the Sta-au for some reason? I don't see what they have going on as far as yes or no goes, so I'm neutral on them.
duncan
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Re: Blood lines

Post by duncan »

The Adrestoi weakness is a typo. It is supposed to be "You must *also* spend a blood when activating a power that costs willpower". This makes it a pretty good flaw. Or at least, not an advantage... There's not a whole lot of willpower based powers anyway. The Sta-au are fairly reasonable once you get rid of the numina for "ghost walk"... their combo powers are decent and useful, not too cheesy. The big thing with them is they are technically joinable by any clan, but it only makes sense balance-wise to come from Gangrel or Mekhet, since their disciplines are Auspex, Fortitude, Obfuscate, Protean. Their drawback is huge.
Last edited by duncan on Sun Mar 06, 2011 10:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
AWC
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Re: Blood lines

Post by AWC »

Yes any bloodlines will be edited for typos. By the way instead of trying to tally this page I put up polls please go and make your picks.
duncan
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Re: Blood lines

Post by duncan »

Wow. The votes seem to be very against a couple of common, harmless bloodlines. Anything with Obfuscate + Dominate so far... Seriously? Malkavia the "dread disease" != Malkovians, bloodline with a free derangement. Curse whitewolf for making this confusion. And what's with the hating on the Mekhet + Dominate? Seem harmless enough to me...
Kyle Morris
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Re: Blood lines

Post by Kyle Morris »

Oh, I blame the Agonistes Bloodline flaw... nobody wants to play a character who runs off into torpor during times of stress. And spends extra time in torpor to boot.
AWC
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Re: Blood lines

Post by AWC »

I will admit the bloodlines are not coming out the way I expected so I am glad I let people pick.
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Joshua
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Re: Blood lines

Post by Joshua »

It might be best to talk about it at the first game, just in case. Voting sometimes gets very weird stuff.
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