LEGACY

LEGACY

characters contend, all seeking to have last word on what's right. Never forget that might makes right.

Sandman. A look at a family of immortal supernatural beings and what it means to be a part of it.

"The Sound of Her Wings" and "Brief Lives" are particularly insightful when it comes to the themes of family and responsibility.

The King Arthur legends. A group of brothers are supposed to be equals. Some remain loyal to the cause.

Others have a falling-out over personal desires. In the end, unity proves most important of all.

The Business, by Iain Banks. Our heroine is adopted into a company that has existed since Roman times, and it becomes her family. Then she is forced to examine her loyalties and the agenda of her "employers."

LEGACY OF DAMNATION Since The Ventrue Chronicle is based on an unusual premise - playing heirs in a line of characters - its subtleties and pitfalls need to be addressed.

Players and Storytellers both have responsibilities in this kind of storytelling. While the majority of this book is for the Storyteller's eyes only, this section should be shared with players to help them establish characters, bloodline goals, family interests and rivals, and lineage weaknesses. These facets of the Blood and Ventrue genealogy set the tone for the chronicle and help guide characters in pursuits throughout the centuries. It's also important to explain the style of play at work here so players understand what they're getting into.

Basically, a legacy of damnation chronicle focuses on playing a vampire in different eras. You portray a particular character through a plotline, but instead of carrying that character into another age, you play that character's childe and then her childe and so on down the line. Previous characters sire(s) slowly fade into obscurity or torpor as childer take up the legacy. Or, sires' passing can be abrupt with torpor or Final Death, jumpstarting a childe's responsibility in the line. ~RIMOGFNITURF A legacy chronicle requires considerably more time to create thana basic game, whether set in history or the modern nights. Your first character is like any other that you might invent. He has motivations and goals, but in time he does not stand alone. He sires an heir. Conventionally, storytelling is left behind when you create your character's first childe. You no longer focus on a single identity, but to a legacy. The easiest and most convenient time to perform the transition between characters is between stories, when you anticipate THE VENTRUE CHRONICLE moving from one era or focus to another. The laurels or failings of one character are transferred to the other while startingfresh in anew setting. The childeshould inherit some of her sire's goals and plans to pursue in the next era, but that is more of a suggestion than a rule. Indeed, the childe may resent her sire and active work against his interests! Transitions between characters are also opportunities to make clean breaks - or to try to.

Once the transfer of control is finalized, sit down with your Storyteller and discuss what happens in the interim. What does a sire do in his "retirement"? Is torpor an option or does he continue to function in Kindred society? What about the childe? Is she prepared for the new era? What facets of the sire's unlife carry over to the childe? Do any enemies, artifacts or allies cross the generational gap? Is the childe pleased or apprehensive about her future?