- its subtleties and pitfalls need to be addressed

- its subtleties and pitfalls need to be addressed. 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? plot developments, especially when you’re preparing to retire one character and create a new one. Relaying your line’s intentions and goals helps make the transition between periods and protagonists easier to handle. A LITTLE TRU’ST Another helpful requirement of a legacy chronicle is faith in fellow players. Just as you can help out the ~ F N F R A L RFQUIRFMFNTS Storyteller, you can help other players enjoy the game. Exploration is one of the major themes of a legacy story, which often means feeding off other players’ ideas for It’s worth mentioning again that a legacy of damnaAs the childe becomes the main character, she lay grow into her own, eventually shrugging off the hadow of her sire and forging her personal goals. In ime she becomes a sire herself, arranging her own etirement and preparing to oversee a successor and lew era. The cycle can repeat itself for as long as you Lave eras to play. more traditional chronicle focuses o haracter’s development, a legacy story ocales and times. Make no mistake: interesting plots over different eras, he needs input. 3ive him plenty of motivations and possible plot hooks for your character(s) to pursue. Say, your characters’ lineage focuses on influencing mortal crime groups. It might be that these interests intersect - or conflict - with other players’. The results are goals to fulfill and contention in achieving them, whether with compelling antagonists or players’ characters. Provide every opportunity for the Storyteller to act on KEEP YOUR OPTION^ OPEN Be flexible and willing to modify character and lineage goals. Different times and areas of the world make different demands of your roleplaying. They place various obstacles to your characters’ ambitions. If you refuse to modify bloodline goals, characters may be stymied and you could be frustrated by lack of opportunities in the game. Imagine a Dark Ages character who obsessively clings to horse-and-carriage travel as his domain. What does he have to show for it in the Victorian Age and Final Nights? The Storyteller has a whole host of options open to him during the course of the chronicle. So many that he can take the game in all sorts of unexpected directions. Expect the unexpected and be willing to react to new situations. Think of your options as a Kindred does his own. Those vampires who are unwilling or unable to react to the passage of time are eventually driven to Final Death or torpor. It's only a matter of time before the world changes in a way that makes a vampire a threat to himself. The same principle applies to you. If you refuse to adapt with the changing chronicle, you and your characters will become a liability rather than an asset. STANDING THE SIGHT OF THEM A legacy chronicle starts with your character in the distant past. Over time, he works his way into the future through persistence and progeny. How quickly time passes and which eras your various characters exDerience is UD to vou and vour trouDe. Still. a baseline force, a common bond, a reason for staying in contact through all the rivalries and conflicts that arise. Get into the characters' heads and find reasons why they remain together. What brings them to the table to advance separate or common goals? It can be as simple as a shared lust for revenge or a collective ancestor, or as complicated as wanting to stay close to one's perceived enemies. An obstacle or enemy may be beyond individuals' power to overcome. It will take years of collective scheming and planning to emerge victorious over her. Characters need to cooperate to build influence and clout so that they can prevail. Succeeding at that goal is even more important than the individual differences that arise between the characters. If personal motives take precedent, individual characters may be preyed upon or the whole may collapse. In the end, a specific reason for characters to stick together defines personalties, encourages roleplaying and justifies the ongoing chronicle. THE VENTRUE CHRONICLE UNFOLDING FVENTS A fundamental legacy chronicle involves a single or multiple lines of Kindred, with considerable spans of time betweenprogeny. The exact amount of time is less important than how the characters spend it. Characters experience (or disregard) ages of world evolution, while their unlives are captured in comparatively small amounts of chronicle time. Consider the snippets of their existence roleplayed as of a "survey" ofhistory. Eventually, it comes time for characters to Embrace childer and pass the legacy on, allowing you to play entirely new characters in different eras. This is basically a variation on troupe-style play, but instead of trading characters, you move on to a specific time with a specific character. The biggest advantage to this kind of game is its simplicity. You get to enjoy fantastic roleplaying opportunities and get to advance a timeline, but you're not forced into anything radically different from traditional play. A childe may have a number of similar outlooks and desires as her master, and she's certainly a member of the same clan. The advancing setting offers change, but not so drastic THE HUNT PRELUDE The linchpin of a legacy chronicle is the acquisition of childer. Whereas conventional character creation usually involves a simple explanation of who Embraced your character, you can now represent both sire and childe. You get to consider the creation act from both sides of the experience. Why does an elder choose a particular "victim"? What qualifications does he apply to the search? How does the new character feel about his new existence? Does he understand his sire's motives? Inessence, one character's finale is another's prelude. Re-read the prelude section of Vampire: The Masquerade (p. 108) to re-acquaint yourself withwhat's suggested there. Even under your special circumstances, you want to work with the Storyteller to create a story that justifies the sire and gives meaning to the childe. As always, emphasis should be on roleplaying rather than on die rolls. It's also possible that your previous character doesn't disappear just yet. He fades out of the picture gradually, indoctrinating his neonate into a new existence. Or he could throw the new character to the delves, so to speak, and make his exit almost immeditely. The choice is yours and depends on the ircumstances of your chronicle and the needs of your roupe. The Storyteller could adopt your old character or a time, or you could try your hand at depicting both Lharacters simultaneously in a challenging display of chizophrenia. How intrusive is the sire in his childe’s bxistence? Does he simply offer advice or meddle diectly? Does he have specific expectations or allow ree reign? When does he feel confident enough to pass lis legacy on, or is he ever able to relinquish it? FAMILY OBLIGATION^ The clans tend to invest varying degrees of importance in :he process of creating a childe. There are different views on :he relative usefulness of the sire-childe relationship. The INIRODUCIION Ventrue usually select their childer very carefully and spend extensive time stressing the importance of the line. This period of instruction is known as theagoge among the tradition bound. A childe bears the (hopefully good) name of all her predecessors and is required to conduct herself appropriately, bringing no shame to her sire or the legacy. In this sire-childe relationship, the childe bears most responsibility. Her actions do not reflect on herself alone, and she will be held accountable for them. The neonate is made to realize that her station in unlife is exactly what is expected of her. Woe to the foolish childe who oversteps her bounds or embarrasses her lineage, especially considering that a great-great grandsire may be watching. And yet, a character of a Ventrue legacy is often free to make or ruin her o m fortunes. There’s always another clanmate quick to prey upon a peer’s weakness. Indeed, that predatory environment weeds out the feeble, rash and timid. And thus, Clan Ventrue is kept strong. to hold your hand victorious over the heads of those you hate? Glory is precious forever. Euripides Leland raced through the burning halls of York Castle searching for the baron, steeling himself against the primal urge to flee. He could barely hear his own voice over the roar of the flames. “Baron John! Can you hear me?” Having delivered a message from Durham in the hours approaching dawn, theTremere hadaccepted John’s hospitality tostay in thecastleuntil dusk. He had been admiring the baron’s library when he smelled smoke, and the first wave of panic set in. The Beast raged withm his chest, recoilig from the flames that licked the timber walls, and Leland shielded his eyes from the brighmess of the c o d l a p tion. Dawn approached quickly. He knew the sky must be purple over the moors. If Baron John could not escape the fire in time, he would run headlong into the morning sunand Leland would lose a powerful contact. He had worked too hard to establish himself in York to let that happen. “Baron J-” A support beam fell against Leland’s shoulder, setting his robes ablaze and nearly provoking the Red Fear. Clawing the garment from his body with shaking hands, the Warlock struggled to find something to set his mind to. Something logical, analytical. He forced himself to break down the situation to maintain his presence. The city’s Jewish population had congregated in the common room, seeking refuge from the abuses of their fellow mortals. There had been attacks on Jewish merchants and moneylenders in recent weeks. Maybe the fire was set to force them into the open. Or maybe one of John’s rivals hoped to make it look that way. Reaching John’s chamber, Leland found the room a maelstrom of flames and smoke. Above the roar and creaking of timber walls, John’s agonized screaming pierced Leland’s dead heart. The baron’s clothing was ablaze. His hair was a crown of flame. Tearing a smoldering tapestry from the wall outside John’s chamber, Leland charged into the room to cover the baron and pulled him to safety, dragging his trembling body down the stairs toward the front entrance. The scene on the ground floor was gruesome. Piled bodies of Jewish men, women and children littered the floor in pools of blood, all seemingly killed by their own hand. Many against the walls of the common room had begun to bum. Standing in the doorway was a haggard woman dressed in a tattered tunic, brandishing what appeared to be a Viking axe. The fire reflected in her eyes as she stood unmoving amidst the blaze. “I am Katla Thranddottir,” she spoke using the Saxon tongue. “You have stolen my throne and land. Prepare yourself!” Leland stopped on the stairs, his mind struggling between rushing back up into the inferno or facing this new threat. Behind the wild woman, he could see the quickly lightening sky. As Leland fought to control his fear, John stood up and threw back the tapestry. Despite his scorched skin and charred clothes, he displayed an overpowering majesty as he stared fiercely at the intruder. “No,” he said with power and authority, responding in the same language. I? am John, Baron of York, and I have stolen nothing. My sire warned of your coming, and it is you who should prepare.. . cousin.” As his lord descended the stair to meet this threat, Leland attempted to conjure dense cloud-cover through blood magic. It was a clear morning, making his work difficult, but any cover he could provide would give protection against the sun. As Leland stretched his mind’s eye toward the heavens, Eyolf Ivarsson, John’s warmaster, ran into the burning castle between the would-be combatants. “Stop! This is madness!” Eyolf faced the enraged Katla, his back to Baron John. “The war is over and both Saxon and