Whispers Above, Silence Below | Dark Ages: Vampire 2nd edition

Creating your character

CHARACTER CREATION Will be mostly done in session 0, with possible adjustments after in discord. If something doesn't feel right about the character when we start playing we can always fix it, no worries. We are here to have fun! Rules: 2ed Dark Ages: Vampire, 2002. (Old school classic.) Don't worry if you don't have the book or PDF, we'll make it work. I can also help out with suggestions for characters, if you are new to the game. We will be making beginner character, suggested generation 8-12 (paid for with background points). SESSION ZERO We will talk about: * Safety around the table, lines and veils and cards. Things to remove or minimize. * Things you very much would enjoy in the game, if you have ideas. * Themes for the group of characters, if any, see below. * Character ideas and how your characters may know each other (or not). * Other stuff that I may have forgotten when writing this. There will probably be some different ideas, but we can make it work together. THEME FOR THE GROUP OR NO Common themes, goals, reasons can make it more easy to explain why you stay together as a group, or coterie as it is called. Examples of coteries can range from a group of friends, to family members, same clan members, a group of monks, scholars, spies, servants of a noble family, etc, or simply a group of strangers who have been invited by someone in the city for some reason. Feel free to make suggestions, but also prepare to be flexible. A theme is not necessary, but can be fun. If you like to come up with a concept and ideas for a character in advance (recommended) I suggest thinking on what kind of person you would have most fun playing. Since this chronicle is intended to be mostly about social RP, intrigue, spying, mystery, etc, not so much combat, your character needs to be at least a bit interested in talking to others and taking part in what the coterie (your group of players) are up to. Also, there are many medieval characters to be inspired by in movies and books, both fictional and historical. I tend to go with the rule of cool, so I'm excited to hear what you come up with! Looking forward to hearing from you! Feel free to send me a message if you have any questions.

Preparing for the session

You will need an account on Discord and Questportal, both are free to sign up to. Let me know if you need any assistance in setting it up. (It should be rather easy.) https://discord.com/ https://app.questportal.com/login Also a working headset or mic/speaker. We will NOT play on camera.

What Viking Skald | Greg brings to the table

DO EXPECT: * An experienced, flexible and open-minded Game Master. * Theatre of the Mind. * Rule of Cool. Better a flowing game than rules layer. * RP heavy, sometimes silly, sometimes scary (hopefully). * Jokes and fun and a light mood around the table. * Immersion when the stars are right. * Intrigue, mystery, social RP, trouble. * 15 minutes of fame - each character around the table will have moments to shine, so please let them. Your moments will also come! Meaning respect others RP as you would like them to respect yours. * Combat lite - the tension and excitement is important, the mechanics not quite so much, but are needed naturally. * Dark themes and horror. * Player choices that matter and get consequences, good or bad. * A living world where NPCs do have their own ideas and plans. * A world that adapts and changes by your actions. * Lots of room for improvisation and ideas. * Unexpected outcomes. * Some mysteries may not be solved right away or at all, as in life. * The journey and the moments is the fun! * My first language is not English, although I get by pretty well, so I may miss references or misunderstand something at times, do feel free to advice me, I like to learn. WARNING: * Since this is at the time of the 4th crusade there will be religious themes and tensions between the Christians and Muslims, and other religious groups. These can be adjusted if needed with the safety rules. DO NOT EXPECT: - Not many combat heavy stories. - Not lots of hack and slash and gory details, it fades to black. - Different horrors will certainly be implied but mostly not described in very much detail, most of the time. (Suggestions may be more scary.) - I'm no voice actor, but I do silly attempts at times.

Homebrew rules

For the sake of a moving and flowing game I sometimes make rules calls on the fly, or mistakes even if I don't remember a rule. If someone remembers it correctly, feel free to say so – but I do try to avoid longer rules discussion ingame, better to look it up after the session if important. Also, some rules are open for different interpretations, I may for instance have ideas about some Disciplines, how they work, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Or indeed other rules. To have fun and go with the flow and rule of cool is always my guiding light.

How Viking Skald | Greg creates a safe table

I will be sending a link to my Lines and Veils document at the session 0, or ask me if you would like to see it in advance. For aftercare we will do Stars and Wishes and also check in on the group how they are feeling about the story so far. Any player is also always very welcome to send me a direct message on discord, I will keep discussions in direct messages private. It is a horror game after all, so things we haven't thought of or didn't know may pop up, but my priority is always the safety and comfort of my players, so we can always change things around if needed. Never hesitate to use the safety tools either in the session or in a private message to me. Player safety beats story every time, easy!