Super secret discussions: for Jason, Dieter, and Brandon's eyes only!
This is where I propose we put our notes re: the elders for the vampire game. My thoughts are as follows. Fundamentally, we're not players, we're GM aides. That being said, we should try to create situations that do the following: 1.) Enhance the thematic elements of the game world 2.) Provide interesting 'plot hooks' for the characters to follow, probably in the form of ways to get involved in the city politics. 3.) Drive the players towards interesting components of the main plot.
--Brandon 14:18, 22 March 2010 (MST) Hey Ben. I'm going to start chiming in here. I agree with all of the above!
So, I am going to put what I think will be the main "features" of Genevieve down. Then I'll post what her main "agenda items" at this time are, generally. Then I'll post 1-3 things that she's working on ca. this time, that the players might get tied up in or hear about. I'm open to a different structure, and others of you can opt to comment how you may or may not be involved in these things.
Contents
Genevieve:
My view of Genevieve is that underneath it all, she is a believer. She sees her domain as a crucible in which vampires and mortals alike are tested to reveal who serves satan and who serves God. Above all, her concern is the protection and strengthening of the faithful. As such, she should be continually pushing those in the lancea sanctum to improve themselves. She sees it as a divine calling to maintain order and structure amongst the kindred of the city, and thus is not afraid to use whatever means necessary to this end.
Currently, Genevieve is most concerned with firming her grasp on the city. She is less interested in restoring "stability" immediately than in making sure the members of lancea sanctum come out stronger and more experienced when the smoke clears. She sees this as a good opportunity to make some broad strokes and to give some of her allies the opportunity to prove themselves. She also sees it as a good opportunity to force Blade's hand a bit. Her second agenda item is securing Pope's alliance: not anything deep, but something functional.
Agenda Items:
1.) Liam will be kept on the job of ferreting out what blade's plays are right now.
2.) Genevieve will pick someone very loyal and have them be the "point person" for Pope. In a way, she intends it to be a test for both Pope and whoever it is that she picks. She will be straight with this person that it is their job to gauge Pope's trustworthiness, what it is worth giving him and what he is willing to give, and to act as his herald and advocate to Genevieve herself. IE: if you read him wrong, you will be to blame. If you read him right, and it benefits lancea sanctum, you win big.
3.) Genevieve will propose the following to Blade, in a "grudging respect" way, that she will agree not to woo Pope and let him continue to try to win him over, if he will help keep peace in the city by intervening with Jericho and getting Pope his territory back: if that is agreed on, she'll restore Pope's right to domain (at a price to him, of course)
4.) She will approach Jacqueline (assuming its become fairly obvious that jacqueline is quite smitten by pope)
and tell her the following: if she can "solve" the mystery of how her hound was set up, and helps her bring the responsible parties to justice, she will restore Pope's right to childer and give her as much credit for it as she wants
thats it
As an aside, here are some things I think would be interesting:
1.) Although genevieve is a social darwinist, she has a weak spot for her childe chester.
2.) I think it would be kind of fun if Blade and her were previously romantically involved.
Simeon Blade
Simeon is a patient schemer. He has been in Seattle since it's beginnings, and has seen numerous opportunities to seize power pass him by. He is deadly sure that the strong survive to rule - this he shares with Genevieve, albeit with a different, not so theological interpretation - but has had enough experience with systems of power to realize that attempting to seize power at the wrong time tends to provide evidence that one is in fact not strong. As such, he has quietly gathered his strength in the Northwest for over 100 years - especially among "street" types often discounted by other movers and shakers - confident that his efforts will prevail in the long run.
Blade sees this as a golden opportunity to shake things up in the city, and has made many recent moves to do so. In his mind, they have been very successful, and he feels like he has a bit of the upper hand. Pope is crucial to this, so his recent ambivalence is troubling, but Blade is confident that he can sway him or at least use him to continue to make things difficult for Genevieve. He plans to make more moves to consolidate his power, including getting Jericho back into the political mix and bringing Sarkozy back to the city to help with Pope.
Possible Plot Points
(1) I really like Ben's point about the prior romantic involvement between Genevieve and Blade. I think that they could easily find attraction in each other, because they are both powerful people who believe (in different ways) that such power is deserved and a sign of legitimacy. I think that their relationship could've played an important role in the events of Genevieve's rise to power. I imagine that Blade might have felt secure that he could leverage his connection to Genevieve to win out over Poor Old Willie, but was outplayed by Genevieve. Or, alternatively, Blade could have actively helped Genevieve to get in power, knowing that otherwise it would have been Willie, and thinking that he could have significant sway over city politics via his connection to Genevieve. Of course, either way, Genevieve turned out to be harder to "leverage" that Blade might've thought initially. This leads him to respect her more, serves to make her more attractive to him, and makes him want to put her into the sunlight and watch her burn.
(2) Another possibility: Blade was the one who had Jericho attacked, thinking to get Jericho "back into the fight" and framing the Sanctum for it, possibly allowing Blade to put more pressure on Genevieve and getting Jericho to agree to make a deal with Pope in order to get revenge for the attack.
How do these possibilities sound?
Agenda Items
(1) Get Sarkozy to Seattle, and set him the task of wooing Pope. Ideally, Sarkozy will be able to do so without further conflict with Jericho. Sarkozy will also be on the job of investigating Pope's connection to Genevieve. Something not good is going on there.
(2) Blade is going to make a very strong, yet subtle push to find out who attacked Jericho. (This is true regardless of whether or not he set the attack up himself. The only difference would be that - if he was behind it - he would have to make a simultaneous effort to cover his tracks.) I envision approaching one or more of the PCs to this end, though I am not sure who would be best (Mike? Jacqueline?).
(3) Make efforts to find out the story of how/why Old Willie claims that the cross found is the right artifact. Knowing the details behind this facade could provide further fuel to destabilize current power base of the city, as well as having some leverage with Pope.
Other Goals
Besides what Ben says here, which is all very good, there are more points. First, I want city politics to go on whether or not the players choose to involve themselves in it. If they do, great. If they dont, the city is not stagnant. Also, this gives the elders a real breath of life. Each of you is an individual, with different goals, and unlike me you dont have a vested interest in any part of the plot or the players. You can throw monkey wrenches into plans in ways I never could imagine.
You can each feel free to contact any player via email and request ther help, ask for favors etc. They want to be involved in some things, but they are a little lost as to who they can contact or how they can do it. Many are afraid to expose themselves given that they are relative neonates.
I am going to create a plot page, one that lists all the major items from each session. I wont get too deep, because that is what often kills my writing, but any of you can post questions and I will respond. I think we might want to create secondary secret pages for each group of two players, so the dialogue can be kept organized.
Dont be afraid to stretch. Do stuff even if you think it might blow up. Sometimes that is fun! Take risks or be cautious, either is fine.
Take your characters in new directions. Make them your own. Do things I would never have imagined or thought of. I am the kind of person who gets stuck in ruts, as I am sure you guys know. New stimulation keeps me fresh, and thats something you guys can easily provide. This game is for everyone, I consider the elders game and the players game separate but related games, this is to be fun for you guys too. And dont be afraid to make suggestions, even about stuff you arent involved with directly.
