We recently started a new game of Vampire: the Requiem set in Chicago. Interestingly the players decided early on that they would all be members of the same Covenant in the setting, allowing for some common interests and history for the group at the start of play.

As the Storyteller for the game I’ve been reading and making use of the published material in World of Darkness: Chicago and the Invictus Covenant book.

Of course, I will be adding a few twists and turns to keep things interesting and more fitting to our personal style of play. I’ve built up a list of interesting NPCs and ongoing plot threads throughout the city. The player characters’ goals are the main stage of this story, but nothing happens in a vacuum either. The other Covenants have plots going on in Chicago (not to forget about other members of the Invictus as well). What the player characters do and how they face challenges will be what I’m going to cover in these session write-ups.

The cast of player characters is:

Olivia Fairfield (Kay) – This young Mekhet was brought into the Requiem to make her generally useless Sire look good among the other Invictus. Thing is, having a rich, spoiled idiot for a Sire is not doing Olivia much good. So, she is seeking some new opportunities with her new friends.

Lavender Ashe (Monica) – A Daeva with a few connections in the nightclubs and local music scene, Miss Ashe is on the hunt for something more than just money or fans, those she can get on her own (being a talented Daeva helps). She is looking for revenge on a certain someone and to achieve that she will need both personal power and powerful allies.

Anton Porter (Bill) – Mr. Porter is a young Ventrue in a city with several older, more established Lords already in place. If he hopes to gain any Status within the First Estate he will need to get creative. This alliance is all part of the plan.

Erik Ravenfury (Jeff) – Only recently awoken from a very long Torpor, this Gangrel wants to learn about the modern world and would not mind having a little piece of territory to call his own.

Quick recap of the first night which we will call the First Meeting:

The vamps were hanging out in a small pub that Miss Ashe occasionally signs at and has been working the clientele into a stable Herd. The group originally met at one of the various gatherings of Invictus Kindred at the Tribune Tower and went on to gossip a bit at Elysium (the Shed Aquarium). Recently the four of them had begin meeting at a cozy booth in the back of the club.

As they were discussing various needs and wants among the Kindred and what the four of them might have to offer a particularly hard to ignore fellow Invictus came barging into the club. Mayfield “Earth” Baines is loud, rude and takes up a lot of room. As the would-be Rapper/Gangsta made his way over to the table he indicated that he need to speak to Erik about a matter for the Sheriff (Erik has been working his way into the position of Hound for the Sheriff of Chicago). Mr. Baines spun a brief tale about a Nosferatu called Filthfoot, who may or may not be hiding out in Stickney and may or may not be under the protection of Regent Czarnecki (a fellow Invictus, but also a Nosferatu). Baines also hinted that it would be in Erik and his crew’s best interest to find the “Freak” and bring him to the Sheriff.

As Earth was leaving the club he physically assaulted Anton’s Ghoul, Morton Carpenter, who had been minding his own business up by the bar. Wisely Anton talked his enraged assistant out of confront the towering Baines.

The group discussed heading out to the suburb Stickney that is under the dominion of the elder vampire Mr. Czarnecki, whom none of them had met as of yet. They made a few calls to other Kindred in town they had connections to and found out that this particular trouble between Mr. Norris and Filthfoot was not coming from the Prince of the city (as far as anyone could tell), so it may in fact be personal. They also discovered that Czarnecki has a preference for classic cars and red-headed snacks.

Miss Ashe arranged for a red-headed treat to be delivered to Mr. Carpenter (Anton’s Ghoul) during the day. This set up a favor-owed to her fellow Daeva Edgar Treadwell, who was only too eager to help Miss Ashe out. Ms. Fairfield meanwhile made contact with Mr. Czarnecki’s people (presumably a Ghoul) and arranged a meeting for the following evening.

So, that was the first night. A few discussions on goals, a carrot/stick mission from an obnoxious giant of a man, a Humanity check for willingly committing a young human to death…and a few phone calls to arrange a meeting with an elder Nosferatu.

Now, there is no way I’ll will be able to cover each and every conversation, use of Disciplines and other details of play from each game night. Also, these write-ups will be from the perspective of the Storyteller of the game. What happens on my end may not be viewed the same from the eyes of the players. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some of them to post a few comments (or even an occasional blog entry of their own) to mix things up a bit. Stay tuned for the recap of the second session and the characters’ second meeting soon…

Matt M McElroy

Tags | actual play, vampire the requiem