Phoenix by Night (Chapter 2)

So, I know players had a lot of questions about chapter 2, so this is where we'll discuss them.

I have the story written, but now I need to know what the players want.

The main goal of chapter 2 is to focus less on grunt shovelhead work, and move into more of a leadership/political position.

This doesn't mean it will be total politics, and it doesn't mean ALL players will be politicians.

What I want to know, is what do you want? As current players of this chronicle?

To clarify, what has occurred so far IS written in stone. Nicholas Zeph did declare that Pack Reborn is disbanded and all players will take their places among the politicians.

This is a plot point. But keep in mind, this is the character Nicholas Zeph declaring this, not me the storyteller. Anything can end up happening.

I'm going to post some of the positions that are open, and people can start claiming them.

Players will be granted priority based on the following:

1st: Characters who participated in the assault on the Camarilla elders by helicopter (Dom, Lysander, David, Auron)
2nd: All other former members of Pack Reborn, based on seniority
3rd: New characters/players.

Main positions, most players will be these:
-Archbishop (Highest political position), one slot only.
-Bishop (2nd highest position) 4 slots available.
-Templar (Bodyguards to bishops/archbishops) many slots available (but you must pick a player-character to bodyguard for)

Secondary positions, there may not be ANY of these.
-Ductus (A pack leader) This player would not be able to do much in-game, but if their character requires it then we can make it work. One slot at most.
-Inquisitor (If you don't know EXACTLY what this is and how to play it, it won't be allowed.) One slot at most.
-Anarch Representative (If you absolutely want to play an anarch, we can work this out.) One slot at most.

DISCLAIMER:

Keep in mind that almost every character is practically fresh from the grave, no one really knows how politics works. So don't feel like "I have no idea how to play a Bishop, I barely understand the Sabbat"

That's intentional, and totally okay.

All of Phoenix by Night has been a crash course in Sabbat unlife, and so will chapter 2.

As for new characters, I'll detail the specific creation rules depending on what slot you pick. Get in touch with me on msn or ask me on this thread.

And as for current characters, I will handle the experience gain, the effects of the diablerie, and other increases personally with you. This won't be public because none of you will know the others power unless you specifically divulge that information to each other.

where do you write the changes to our characters?, or do you write an email?

Would prefer to do this dynamically with you, so your character goes the direction you want. IE MSN/hamachi

UPDATE:

I will be allowing additional slots, for players who A) do not wish to play Sabbat, B) do not wish to play P&P, and/or C) cannot get vamp to work.

These slots will be Camarilla leaders, elders, politicians, tacticians, princes, primogen, etc etc etc.

They will be part of a rival city to Phoenix, and will play opponents for the players in Phoenix.

A few key things to know:
-You will be playing the VILLAINS of the story. In other words, they will win some and lose some, though most likely lose in the end.
-Your decisions and tactics will have a direct effect on the Phoenix players, if your tactics are superior, you will start winning. Perhaps even conquering Phoenix.
-You will most likely never join the game (though I would be willing to arrange a special appearance)

The reason for my offering this is so that the Phoenix players can have real tactical opponents, not just me, the storyteller, declaring what happens.

How would this work?
-E-mail
-MSN Chat
-NOT FORUM

Your tactics will be kept secret from the Phoenix players, they will need to find out in-game (possibly the hard way).

If there are multiple people who want to coordinate tactics, just let me know. Chat with me on MSN or just compile your ideas and send them in an e-mail.

UPDATE: I will not require the wodmod resources, as this for some reason messes up a few people's game.

ShadowLance wrote:UPDATE: I will not require the wodmod resources, as this for some reason messes up a few people's game.

I thank you for the kind thought. But if it were only me whose having trouble, then you don't have to make any special accommodations for me.

Even if I manage to get WoD to work, I doubt I would be able to join every game. I can't play Friday night or Saturday night (I got work)

Hmm, shadow usually hosts then because those are the best days for everyone else

seems like the only day we can have you with us is sunday

time zones the biggest prob, my mornings are everyone elses night times

Another idea.

I was thinking the problem with new people joining is that if they joined as humans, they would be utterly disconnected from all the other players.

Even if they started as neonates, all the other players are in leadership level positions..

And if I let them join as elders and join in on the politics, it would negate all the hard work of the players who played through chapter 1.

So my solution is to run two parallel games. Let me give an example:

Lysander and Nathan Walker decide the city needs more enforcement on the street. Kine gangs are driving away the good cattle at night and the packs are getting frustrated from the lack of blood bags. Lysander and Nathan don't personally dirty themselves with this kind of grunt work, but they give the order for a pack to go teach the gangs a lesson.

Then at a later time, when the players who have new characters join, they find out their pack has just been given the order from a Bishop. They go out and deal with the gangs however they choose.

The next game with the elders, Lysander and Nathan get a report back about how the mission went.

I could also do this for the war, if the bishops/archbishop decide to send packs into battle.

Which reminds me, Isador, if you really want you can claim some sort of battle officer position, if you'd rather take part in that bit.

My only concern is that everyone skirts their responsibilities and goes off to war instead of politics, then NPCs take all the political positions, and it becomes me dictating what happens.

I'd much prefer a nice dynamic game where the players control the direction

Feedback?

I think that only someone who played in chapter 1 could offer a viable feedback.

But personally, I think the idea sounds cool. But it would be a lot of effort for you, Shadow.

Second, the players would find difficulties communicating together. After all, the Bishop needs to meet the pack members on a regular basis.
Hosting a totally different game would cause the new players to be totally removed from the main game itself.

Question:
How long do players remain human before getting embraced? Can this time be shortened?
If so, then the two games could be joined together. (Or would that be too boring?)

But it would be a lot of effort for you, Shadow.

Sounds fun to me, the only difficulty is hosting often enough and when people can actually play

Second, the players would find difficulties communicating together. After all, the Bishop needs to meet the pack members on a regular basis.

This is true, perhaps this could be handled in a roleplay thread specifically for the game. But the two games wouldnt be completely separated, there could definitely be games where the players see each-other

How long do players remain human before getting embraced? Can this time be shortened?

Actually I wasnt planning on doing that again, players would just create as sabbat neonates

If so, then the two games could be joined together. (Or would that be too boring?)

I'm not sure how much they could be joined. The Bishops wouldnt see much combat, and the packs wouldnt see much politics. The place where the games join would be meetings and such, tactics discussions, missions, etc.

just to avoid confusion:
Does that mean that you will be repeating Chapter 1 with new players, while hosting chapter 2 for the old players?

He'll be repeating the experience of chapter 1 for new players, but otherwise they will be involved in chapter 2. However due to the fact that old players are Bishops, they'll simply have far greater influence on the progress of the story.

Lysander WILL inevitably take an active stance in organizing Phoenix and in battles that are worth his presence. If he'd have to hide in his haven for weeks on end merely because of his position (and not out of neccesity) he'd get bored. So i recon he'll be much like Bishop Zeph, running with the pack on big battles and taking matters in his own hands if he must.

Anyway Shadow, i like the idea of getting a new pack toghether for the new players. I wouldn't even mind joning the new players to "guide" them a bit as Bishop

That'd be interesting, Isador, having you making frequent appearances just like Zeph did

And no, it won't be a repeat of chapter 1 story-wise, but I am beginning to see the similarities, except this time players will be in control instead of npcs..

I'll think more about this

Could we say that, in chapter 2, instead of having NPCs running the show and players doing the dirty work, this time will be old players running the show. and new players learning the ropes the same way that the old players did.

Aero wrote:Could we say that, in chapter 2, instead of having NPCs running the show and players doing the dirty work, this time will be old players running the show. and new players learning the ropes the same way that the old players did.

Easyier said thend one i suppose, having loads of NPCs runnig around will effectly slowl down the speed of which the ST as he must focus on not only the NPCs but the game itself, which can be a nightmare if a player is on his own somewhere on the map, i've been on games where the ST would take like 10 mins to reply to an emote!

My point been best to try and lower the amount of NPCs if possible.

i would like to join the new game as a new character while playing Dom on the sessions where the old players are. does that sound like a good idea? in that way, the new players would have an experienced player with them but he will be on the same level.

That would be mostly up to Shadow, but are you sure you can spread your attention across 2 characters? It takes a lot of effort renembering what either character has experienced without getting mixed up.

isador wrote:That would be mostly up to Shadow, but are you sure you can spread your attention across 2 characters? It takes a lot of effort renembering what either character has experienced without getting mixed up.

no problem, sometimes i juggled 4 characters at a time when i was playing tabletop PnP

Aye I wanted to bring that up, if you're okay with playing multiple characters and want more opportunities to play, you can definitely do two characters like Chris

I am chris...Hydrogen=Christofer

Aye I was just stating it for everyone else. If they are up for the challenge like you

Have you read my email yet?, i submitted him again. wanna talk to you on Msn about him. im online for about 30 min more then im going to bed

ShadowLance wrote:Aye I was just stating it for everyone else. If they are up for the challenge like you

Might be an idea if you host a evening game for people who are in the same sort of time zone as you, i.e. Aero. I've noticed Aero is online late at night for me, which is actually morning for you shadow, other players like ICT for example (another group) are also in a similar time zone. I can host for players near my time zone, and you can also host during the weekends for people who are intrested. Also people who don't want to play i.e. Jan, I can host small games for him.

Not sure what you mean, it almost sounds like you want to host Phoenix?

Anyways, Hydrogen, read the sheet, I didn't get out of class till now so no chance to talk more at the moment.

I'll reply to your e-mail with specifics.