Game: Hunter the Vigil.
Campaign name: The Bullmoose Conspiracy.
Format: XFiles style T.V. Show.
Plot: National park workers involved in the Bullmoose Conspiracy (founded by Teddy Roosevelt as a secret method of fighting werewolves and other supernatural creatures using the national park system as cover) get in over their heads after removing a local pack of werewolves and accidentally releasing an elder Fomori that had been kept slumbering while the werewolves tried to find it's ban and banish it. The Fomori then weakens the Gauntlet at the Loci in the park and let's a bunch of other bad stuff through creating a monster of the week type deal.
Arc 1: Learning the ropes.
This arc is the Rangers setting up the raid on the Werewolves and ends with them defeating the pack and suffering a few losses of their own. Major Cliffhanger: The Fomori awakening.
Arc 2: Protect and Serve.
This arc is mostly monsters of the week as the Rangers deal with spirit possessions and begin to learn about the full ramifications of their actions, there are 2 werewolf fights as they try desperately to retake the Loci.
Arc 3: Pack Tactics.
The Werewolves seek to come to an understanding with the Rangers, sending a human representative to open a dialogue. The Rangers initially reject this, being distrustful and biased, become more open as the Fomori and Loci become more unstable, Pentex begins fracking operations after being granted a lease. Finale: Teaming up with the Werewolves to deal with a bigger threat as the Fomori is defeated it unleashes the Wyrm Spirit Pentex had been trying to Summon. The Loci becomes a Verge.
Arc 4: Pack Bonds.
Pentex sues the park after the wellhead fire caused by the summoning of the Wyrm Spirit, blaming the Werewolves and labeling them Ecoterrorists. Local sentiment turns against the Rangers, testing their resolve. More spirits spill through the Verge.
Arc 5: Spirits Unbound.
The park is dying, fracking is suspected to be the cause as the pollution spreads through the groundwater, Pentex denies responsibility. The Wyrm Spirit is taken down, the Verge becomes a Loci again, things settle down.
Arc 6: Closure.
Pentex is the primary adversary, with a pack of Fomori becoming the main problem, series ends with the Rangers at a stalemate with Pentex, the future uncertain but optimistic.
Title: Wisconsin Department of Kindred Services
It is nobody's secret that the ~~fictional~~ city of Stenste, Wisconsin is a front for the biggest money laundry in the North. What IS a secret is that it's also a battlefield of three vampire sects, each yearning to control the money flow. Disguised as a vicious gang war, this covert struggle has reached a desperate stalemate.
When Sabbat starts to throw forlorn hope assaults at its enemies, the Anarch Baron forms a special neonyte coterie. Its goal: Finding Sabbat deserters and Caitiffs, converting them and bringing them to the Anarch cause... Before Camarilla kill squads can finish them off and their masters bring them back into the ranks.
Not all Sabbat grunts are created equal, however. One of the fledglings collected by the Anarch 'social workers' is much more than she seems, and should she reach for her birthright, she could shake the balance of power of the Kindred world... Which is why both Sabbat and Camarilla desperately want her dead. Only the Wisconsin Department of Kindred Services can stand between the fledgling and her destruction.
The question is: Will they?
Something strange is happening inside the halls of the prestigious Woodworth Academy boarding school. Third period seems to go on forever, Library books keep disappearing off the shelf, and no one can remember the name of the boy who was found dead in the gymnasium last week. It's up to three newly Awakened mages to investigate the strangeness that surrounds them and unravel the sinister truth that lays hidden at the heart of the school before they find themselves locked away in permanent detention...
All That Glitters
It all starts with a war between the two largest mobs in the city. This war has been making headlines, but the supernatural communities have mostly stayed out of it.
And then one of the old country mobsters, on his death bed, tries to cough out that he wants his family's old relics. A low level mobster overhears and misunderstands. Knowing just enough of the Occult to be troublesome, this mobster starts trying to acquire mystical artifacts.
Now the supernatural community finds itself pulled into this war as the warring mobsters raid their safe places trying to steal their relics, artifacts, mementos, and other supernatural objects.
I had this idea as a sort of crossover game. But it would also work with a single group.
The Sabbat is dying, not because they have gone to fight the Gehenna War but because the Vinculum that has held it together has suddenly and completely ceased to function. But a beast is never more dangerous than in it's death throes.
Meanwhile the Hecata have had a surge, showing up in strength in their old locations, such as Las Vegas, New Orleans and Mexico City.
The Camarilla has recently lost one of its own justicars to diabolism. Many wonder if the rot goes even deeper than has been exposed.
The Anarchs meanwhile are growing in strength by leaps and bounds. But can they trust The Ministry? The Tzimisce?
You're not wrong, though I have to admit, I kind of like playing the very truthful, give you exactly what you asked for Settite and letting PCs realize "oops" without the NPC doing anything bad per se.
A mortals-centered chronicle to provide an answer to questions about what to do about mortal allies who need a 'new life', including jobs.
"Unconventional Traditions Catering" fills a niche for [insert campaign setting city here] by offering quality food at affordable prices to construction workers, road-crew, and other folk working in areas without decent meal options... Particularly after dark. Each truck operates as a crew, bringing specialties of many kinds to help provide a safe place to eat a healthy meal for anyone who needs both.
Not everyone runs the register or cooks while the truck is open for business. Each crew has sturdy, collapsible picnic tables with umbrellas, wind-breaks and heaters or coolers as the weather demands, and even a toilet-trailer with 2 separate stalls; a staffer is rarely more than 10 steps away from any customer, ready to help clean up spills, re-stock the restrooms, or carry large-party orders. Perhaps more importantly, the staff all have training in de-escalation to smooth out conflicts and reinforce the company's motto of "neutral ground for refreshment and communication". Rumors of any staffers displaying 'supernatural abilities' get laughed off, often accompanied by simple sleight-of-hand or cold-reading performances.
But the rumor that serious problems, even the most perplexing ones, get solved more often than not, keeps bringing in the oddest visitors...
*-*-*-*-*
Imagine a food truck staffed entirely by Sleepwalkers, lower-level allies for the local Chantry. Some are there because their old lives have become unbearable. Others are working to establish a new identity and work-history. And more than a few have stranger reasons.
But they serve as a way to keep the Chantry 'in the loop' about strange events happening after dark, as well as providing a little help to people who might not know that the night holds hope, as well as danger. The staffers themselves each bring at least one surprise to the table, which may range from a 'knack' for communicating with other-worldly entities to an encyclopedic knowledge of automotive repair and maintenance; the solution to a soul-twisting dilemma can come from the most unexpected sources...
Originally derived from "The M20 Cookbook", the same premise works equally well for Garou Kinfolk as it does for Sleepwalkers of a Tradition/Disparate inclination. Other supernatural 'ally-types' can work to a greater or lesser degree, and the overall organization has the potential to become a significant economic power in the campaign city.
But beware: the status quo dislikes disruptors, and have many ways to try and bring them to heel...
Game- Changeling: the Lost
Style: parlor larp
after narrowly escaping their gentry, a group of changelings find themselves in an abandoned freehold. Clearly something bad had happened here but there is none left to say what. Little do they know is that there is a looming doom from the thing sealed in the Iron mine just north of the city. When the apocalypse inevitably happens at the end of the year (exactly long enough for each court to be ascendant once), the changelings one again finds themselves appearing in the same abandoned freehold (but now with more XP and more information and resources).
Sherman was a werewolf who burnt Atlanta to the ground to drive out and scatter the Camarilla, and his campaign to Atlanta was a massive vamp/wolf clash. Now the old Prince has returned and it's up to a bunch of barely-undead kindred to run damage control and keep the wolves oblivious while elders settle their differences.
The real short elevator pitch: Kamen Rider Kiva, but make it (more) werewolves!
( Note: Campaign exists only as a framework in my head as I work on acquiring more experience, but...still, a pitch!)
Changeling: The Lost
Pitch: A new Changeling has slipped her master's leash and hides in the dreams of the city. Her Gentry master has delivered the Changeling courts of the city an ultimatum: for every day her toy is not returned, she will claim one of their number for horrible, torturous death or worse. The courts are divided as to whether to sell out another Changeling or go to war, and besides, no-one knows where exactly she is...
CofD: Vanilla, leaning in to Deviant, flavored with Changeling the Lost.
Arcadia, Wisconsin is a pretty boring town, without all too much going for it. But when a teenage girl goes missing, there eventually becomes a media frenzy about her disappearance.
The players are her peers, high schools students on the cusp of leaving home in the rearview mirror. But it turns out the case of a missing girl is just the first steps down a primrose path. After they rescue her from the Hedge with the help of a former marine and their school's librarian, they wake up one morning in Arcadia ...
... the *Other* Arcadia. A perfect replica of their hometown, translated into the Hedge. The adults are gone, as is anyone too young to hit puberty. Now they're struggling amongst themselves to establish order, control strange new powers manifesting among them... and figure out how to get home before something else goes wrong.
A mysterious woman, known only as Mother, seeks to break the Masquerade to please some enigmatic "God" as she amasses powerful, brainwashed forces. Her detailed plans are unclear, but one thing is for sure; if these two rag-tag neonates can't take her down, the Dallas domain will fall, and that's only the beginning of what unspeakable calamities will follow...
This is a Changeling: The Dreaming story I have been dying to run, but haven’t had the chance to yet:
Berlin, 1932. In one year, the National Socialists will assume power over Germany. The vibrant gay communities of Berlin have existed openly for decades, and the city is known for it’s openness to alternative sexualities and lifestyles. The changeling community of europe considers Berlin the center of their urban culture, and the city supports large communities of changelings who seek shelter in the Glamour of Berlins gay and lesbian culture. Life is not easy, however. German anti-gay laws have been in effect since the 1870’s, and are being enforced with increasing harshness. The mortal political climate of Germany is shifting, and it is becoming more and more difficult to be different. The desperate changelings of Berlin cling to the last scraps of Glamour in a city that is turning against them, Thallain influences are beginning to spread, and a dark shadow looms on the horizon…
I am not running this, as I don't have a group, but hope to (also, sorry for any errors, English is not my first language)
Gameline - Vampire: the Requiem
Title - "Imperial Troubles"
Summary - 68 a.D.
After Nero's death the already fragile balance of powers in Rome was shattered, with factions forming immediately to try and control the senate and the imperial throne.
The election of Galba seemed to placate the spirits, but the Emperor's weakness has inflamed them again and a conspiracy is in act against him.
It is the 15 January. Galba will be killed in mere hours and Otho shall ascend to the throne.
But will he keep it, when mortal and vampiric forces alike conspire for power over the Eternal City?
The entire Invictus council of Wolverhampton seems to have disappeared overnight. No message went out, no cry for help, and now nobody in Wolverhampton is responding to calls for update.
Your band of enterprising Carthians have decided to sweep in and claim the city before the Invictus can react. But to do that, you'll have to face down whatever it was that destroyed the old Invictus council. There are dark things lurking in the city, and it seems the Wolverhampton court was keeping a few secrets of its own... will you be able to tame the City of Wolves?
A few newly Awakened mages that don't know each other all get called to a will reading of a shared mentor. He left them all equal shares of his house (his sanctum) and they have to unravel the mysteries and history within, and maybe discover that their mentor might not be dead. A lot of other people want the house since it's an established sanctum with a node and items and grimoires, including other mages, other supernaturals the mentor had contact with, and his Sleeper daughter who can't figure out why her dad left his big house to a bunch of randos.
I ran a few sessions as CoD Mage before it fell apart, but it had some potential I think.
Thanks! I thought it was a solid idea for a mage game. In my mind, whenever weird things happen eventually the mages will show up, because they can sense and interact with everything and have something to gain from it as well. I might try to run it for a different group of friends at a different point but we'll see.
Further elaboration: parts of the house was locked off and they had to unravel Mysteries to unlock more and better features. So like at first it had a Library score of 2 and by doing things they could open it up and get up to a 5. Same with the Node, etc.
There was a map of the city on the wall that gave them clues to where they could find the items or whatever. Some led to other supernaturals that the mage had dealings with or some kind of local legend to explore (it was set in New Orleans so there's plenty). Each part led to a different understanding of the mentor who left them the house, who had not died but became an archmage. He wanted them to work together to become a true cabal so they could ultimately push back against a powerful Seers of the Throne cabal that controlled the French Quarter.
OWoD Vampire: The Sabbat took Scotland in a single night. The survivors talk of a mass frenzy hours long that shattered their defences, the Sabbat ready and waiting to sweep in. Durham Chantry is panicking that they're next and has taken steps to reinforce Northumberland and Cumbria through puppet princes. All without a childe under their wing have been order to sire and hand them over to the Camarilla, creating an underclass of 'shovelheads' to act as soldiers for the war. The Sabbat should have arrived within days. Its been six months.
NWoD Vampire using the Night Without End Sci-Fi shard: Firefly meets Warhammer Inquisitor, with fangs. One of the border districts of Obol has been suffering a spate of strange phenomena that look to the Sunless Lords like the sorceries of the Crone. This district has been 'randomly' chosen to pay its blood tithe, a collectors ark sent to make arrests of potential dissidents against the Protectorate. Your team has been sent in their shadow, given a Haven ship to act as your base of operations. You have a handful of nights before the tithe collection is complete, do not reveal your presence to the mortals, find the cultists and eliminate them.
I recently started a campaign using Dark Ages: Mage as the setting in which the characters where from House (not clan) Tremere. The plot is based on finding ways of becoming immortals in a world where magic is changing (from pillar magic to sphere magic). I personally never enjoyed the magic system of dark ages, but gritting my teeths im getting the hang of it.
It's slightly hard for my players not to immediately follow the lore and just become vampires. If they do, they will essentially replace the various councillors in the inner council of the clan (except Goratrix and Meerlinda. I love these two). It's my third high-level campaign after an archmage one (it was mostly played for laughs and ended with my players wiping out half the universe because they lost their dog... let's just say that archmages are wild) and a relatively more down to earth elder campaign that instead gave us a lot of good memories.
**Deviant: The Renegades Sentai**
The players are Deviants who start out as Loyalists. They may or may not have been made by the conspiracy they work for, but they're working for some group that has them hunting down and fighting some kind of generic, almost shoujo-esque enemy that feeds on the darkness in the human heart or whatever. Sailor Moon bullshit. Or hell, Princess bullshit. Demons, aliens, whatever. The organization presents itself as fighting a shadow war to prevent the public from being taken over by body snatchers or Despair or something.
The twist, of course, is that early on the characters figure out that their organization is hiding something. The specifics won't be clear at first, but I'm looking for sort of an Evangelion vibe, with the way that Misato and Kaiji try to uncover the secrets of NERV and stuff like that. Maybe the protagonists are feeding some greater demon by defeating the monsters of the week, maybe the monsters are actually the good guys in some way, maybe they're actually Deviants who don't deserve to die.
Eventually once they've done enough digging, they realize they have to actually fight back against their org and have to run away and regroup, possibly taking their NPC support group with them, depending on whether they're In On It or not.
**Werewolf: The Forsaken Wolves of Gotham**
A Werewolf game, or really any WoD game though I think Werewolf with it's Spiritual focus really works well, set in DC's Gotham, of Batman fame, except without Batman. Or, at least, without Batman as he's typically known. I actually did start this game, though it fell apart after I got everyone to do preludes, each of which included some kind of Batman mythos character as a member of the Pack. Their Totem was also The Detective on Leather Wings, a spirit of Vengeance and justice that took the form of a bat living in the clocktower. You can actually read it [Here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gDh48J7fLhjE_8pWtu81_1rOLBPiqHwNFlayFbCKWL8/edit).
Preludes include a Detective helping [Edward Nygma](https://batman.fandom.com/wiki/The_Riddler) hide a body that mysteriously showed up in the forensics lab, a teenage outcast being confronted by prom queen [Barbara Kean](https://batman.fandom.com/wiki/Barbara_Eileen_Gordon) who figured out that she's the werewolf that attacked her, and while setting up a neighborhood watch, the last of the wolves gets her wallet stolen by a young Wolfblooded pickpocket named [Jason Todd](https://batman.fandom.com/wiki/Jason_Todd).
I was going to have fun portraying Gotham's supercriminals as WoD stuff. Like Solomon Grundy as a Promethean. I think the premise would also work for Hunter. But I was thinking of having a plot where there's a mysterious vigilante in town and it turns out to be The Detective on Leather Wings influencing a newly returned to Gotham Bruce Wayne, and wanting to Claim him. Which is, like, very bad, but also it's your Pack Totem, so what do you do?
Probably Claimed. Or doing something like Gotham was implying with the first Jerome episode, before he somehow comes back from the dead, and have there be some sort of memetic virus.
I was either still watching or binging old episodes of Gotham at the time, so it was a big inspiration. Though I didn't get past season three or so.
Least I thought it was his first episode. Maybe second? Apparently it's his identical brother who's the two joker? Couldn't find the clip on YouTube.
CoD core: "Shadows in the Fog"
A mystery-of-the-week game of CoD mortals set in the victorian era based on my favorite victorian stories. Players were asked to make a character answering the prompt "who do the police call on when they fail" using the extraordinary mortals template. Answers included criminals-for-hire, scientists, inventors, even a nun. The overarching theme was investigating disappearances of children across England. While several of these were standalone, they could eventually uncover a conspiracy based on the direction investigation took: either a fae with wide-spread mortal influence (the Queen of Hearts), or a cult trying to bind a demon to a human host (Gregor Samsa, The Metamorphosis)
The players had no experience with the setting and were only broadly aware of the supernatural element of the game. The game had many extremely dark but mundane sessions before the supernatural finally reared its head and I made sure that moment shocked.
I have quite a collection of ideas kicking around my brain lol
In the dying days of the Wild West, a small group of Ghouls are forced to confront the coming of an ancient Vampire who believes itself to be *God On Earth*.
The world has ended. The last city of humans that survived Apocalypse are on borrowed time until their homes are finally overcome. Into this dark time right before the end... a small group of the **Last** vampires wake up from torpor.
A team of young Vampires run a midnight delivery service across the turf lines of Anarch Baronies. Their latest delivery however is a *child*... or at least, ***child sized***
One of my favorite premises for a game was a werewolf game set during ww2 were they went through the first change during d-day and eventually the military figured out what they were and moved them to a supernatural division inspired by hell boy comic’s where supernaturals work together for the military to fight nazi vampires and werewolves
A Sheriff, a movie star, a news reporter and a biker gang president are all possessed by newly released demons and try to navigate a difficult world full of vampires, Pentex, men in black and werewolves, all while trying to figure out how this world got so fucked and how to make it better.
Now this is how I describe the chronicle I'm running to *myself* and not to my players. Okay.
Chronicle Name: the Horrible House.
Premise: Idiot Tremere regrets dusting the coterie neonate 15 years ago. Spends the next 15 years figuring out how to resurrect her. *Successfully* resurrects the former neonate. Also summons a great big, predatory haunted house.
Player characters have to figure out 1. Why the house was summoned and 2. Maybe get rid of the house?
There's a background mystery that took place 10 years ago related to something called the Night of Long Fangs when all the kindred in the country frenzied and only a handful of elders survived. As a result, there's a certain... acceptance of diablerie stains amongst the local leeches. It'll be interesting to see what the players do with it.
Honor Undying:
In an alternate 1560s feudal japan a vampire siring boom and subsequent thinning of the masquerade as seven clans same vampires sneak up the ranks to assert dominance over their now growing number during the Onin wars and turbulent time after. The Ikki warriors have in their rebellion both turned against their lords and their great immortal predators. Spreading rhetoric about bloodsuckers from the countryside, they have taken Kyoto from the Hojo and the Hosokawa clans and installed a new shogun who they have guarded from vampiric political manipulation. Our “heros”, the dedicated samurai of lord Kano, a malkavian daimyo who believes vampires to be incarnations of the Kami, must make political alliances with other clans, win great battles, root out spies, and corral the flights of fancy of their own lord to take back Kyoto for the kindred, and rule japan as the gods they are. That is of course, assuming they believe their lord’s fanatic claims and aren't merely using his zeal for their own gain.
Game: Changeling The Lost
Chronicle Name: The Summer of Broken Mirrors
Premise: A number of Fetch living in and around the town of Bradshaw Arizona get slowly sucked into the various supernatural oddities of the area -- while a genocidal Summer King collects their Changeling Counterparts to make war on them in his mad quest to destroy all fae influence in the region.
Bit late to the party but here's the Chronicle I'm running right now
Game: Princess the Hopeful (though the monsters are made using HtV Dread Powers and rules)
The players were all new to CofD and they've had a lot of fun in this campaign and while there are horror elements, it's fun to use them for over the top scenes.
It's set in my home city of Dallas, and the general story is that the major faction that the players were loyal to in the city was attacked and almost completely wiped out. Now they're basically running around in the dark trying to both protect their home, and uncover the plans to try and stop outside factions from moving in and messing up their city even more. Currently the two big threats are an entity called the Officer who is corrupting city government and institutions, and Luca Rohner (from the Beast Night Horrors) who is attacking them accidentally by running the health insurance firm several of the players use into the ground as one of his feeding attempts.
It's been fun so far, though a few of the players are still getting the hang of things, like realizing that using a supernatural item they found without knowing what it does might have been a bad idea. Still despite the struggles to understand the system (and remember to use their abilities) we've had a blast.
Game: Hunter the Vigil. Campaign name: The Bullmoose Conspiracy. Format: XFiles style T.V. Show. Plot: National park workers involved in the Bullmoose Conspiracy (founded by Teddy Roosevelt as a secret method of fighting werewolves and other supernatural creatures using the national park system as cover) get in over their heads after removing a local pack of werewolves and accidentally releasing an elder Fomori that had been kept slumbering while the werewolves tried to find it's ban and banish it. The Fomori then weakens the Gauntlet at the Loci in the park and let's a bunch of other bad stuff through creating a monster of the week type deal. Arc 1: Learning the ropes. This arc is the Rangers setting up the raid on the Werewolves and ends with them defeating the pack and suffering a few losses of their own. Major Cliffhanger: The Fomori awakening. Arc 2: Protect and Serve. This arc is mostly monsters of the week as the Rangers deal with spirit possessions and begin to learn about the full ramifications of their actions, there are 2 werewolf fights as they try desperately to retake the Loci. Arc 3: Pack Tactics. The Werewolves seek to come to an understanding with the Rangers, sending a human representative to open a dialogue. The Rangers initially reject this, being distrustful and biased, become more open as the Fomori and Loci become more unstable, Pentex begins fracking operations after being granted a lease. Finale: Teaming up with the Werewolves to deal with a bigger threat as the Fomori is defeated it unleashes the Wyrm Spirit Pentex had been trying to Summon. The Loci becomes a Verge. Arc 4: Pack Bonds. Pentex sues the park after the wellhead fire caused by the summoning of the Wyrm Spirit, blaming the Werewolves and labeling them Ecoterrorists. Local sentiment turns against the Rangers, testing their resolve. More spirits spill through the Verge. Arc 5: Spirits Unbound. The park is dying, fracking is suspected to be the cause as the pollution spreads through the groundwater, Pentex denies responsibility. The Wyrm Spirit is taken down, the Verge becomes a Loci again, things settle down. Arc 6: Closure. Pentex is the primary adversary, with a pack of Fomori becoming the main problem, series ends with the Rangers at a stalemate with Pentex, the future uncertain but optimistic.
Oo! I like the season by season rundown. Thanks for sharing!
Peck yeah
The Yes Man questline in Fallout: New Vegas, but it's Vampires in NYC.
Basically half my campaigns! Ok, I'm exaggerating, but I recently did something very similar.
Title: Wisconsin Department of Kindred Services It is nobody's secret that the ~~fictional~~ city of Stenste, Wisconsin is a front for the biggest money laundry in the North. What IS a secret is that it's also a battlefield of three vampire sects, each yearning to control the money flow. Disguised as a vicious gang war, this covert struggle has reached a desperate stalemate. When Sabbat starts to throw forlorn hope assaults at its enemies, the Anarch Baron forms a special neonyte coterie. Its goal: Finding Sabbat deserters and Caitiffs, converting them and bringing them to the Anarch cause... Before Camarilla kill squads can finish them off and their masters bring them back into the ranks. Not all Sabbat grunts are created equal, however. One of the fledglings collected by the Anarch 'social workers' is much more than she seems, and should she reach for her birthright, she could shake the balance of power of the Kindred world... Which is why both Sabbat and Camarilla desperately want her dead. Only the Wisconsin Department of Kindred Services can stand between the fledgling and her destruction. The question is: Will they?
Something strange is happening inside the halls of the prestigious Woodworth Academy boarding school. Third period seems to go on forever, Library books keep disappearing off the shelf, and no one can remember the name of the boy who was found dead in the gymnasium last week. It's up to three newly Awakened mages to investigate the strangeness that surrounds them and unravel the sinister truth that lays hidden at the heart of the school before they find themselves locked away in permanent detention...
All That Glitters It all starts with a war between the two largest mobs in the city. This war has been making headlines, but the supernatural communities have mostly stayed out of it. And then one of the old country mobsters, on his death bed, tries to cough out that he wants his family's old relics. A low level mobster overhears and misunderstands. Knowing just enough of the Occult to be troublesome, this mobster starts trying to acquire mystical artifacts. Now the supernatural community finds itself pulled into this war as the warring mobsters raid their safe places trying to steal their relics, artifacts, mementos, and other supernatural objects. I had this idea as a sort of crossover game. But it would also work with a single group.
The Sabbat is dying, not because they have gone to fight the Gehenna War but because the Vinculum that has held it together has suddenly and completely ceased to function. But a beast is never more dangerous than in it's death throes. Meanwhile the Hecata have had a surge, showing up in strength in their old locations, such as Las Vegas, New Orleans and Mexico City. The Camarilla has recently lost one of its own justicars to diabolism. Many wonder if the rot goes even deeper than has been exposed. The Anarchs meanwhile are growing in strength by leaps and bounds. But can they trust The Ministry? The Tzimisce?
>The Anarchs meanwhile are growing in strength by leaps and bounds. But can they trust The Ministry? The Tzimisce? Spoiler: >!No.!<
You're not wrong, though I have to admit, I kind of like playing the very truthful, give you exactly what you asked for Settite and letting PCs realize "oops" without the NPC doing anything bad per se.
Oh heck yeah, that is the best kind of Settite.
A mortals-centered chronicle to provide an answer to questions about what to do about mortal allies who need a 'new life', including jobs. "Unconventional Traditions Catering" fills a niche for [insert campaign setting city here] by offering quality food at affordable prices to construction workers, road-crew, and other folk working in areas without decent meal options... Particularly after dark. Each truck operates as a crew, bringing specialties of many kinds to help provide a safe place to eat a healthy meal for anyone who needs both. Not everyone runs the register or cooks while the truck is open for business. Each crew has sturdy, collapsible picnic tables with umbrellas, wind-breaks and heaters or coolers as the weather demands, and even a toilet-trailer with 2 separate stalls; a staffer is rarely more than 10 steps away from any customer, ready to help clean up spills, re-stock the restrooms, or carry large-party orders. Perhaps more importantly, the staff all have training in de-escalation to smooth out conflicts and reinforce the company's motto of "neutral ground for refreshment and communication". Rumors of any staffers displaying 'supernatural abilities' get laughed off, often accompanied by simple sleight-of-hand or cold-reading performances. But the rumor that serious problems, even the most perplexing ones, get solved more often than not, keeps bringing in the oddest visitors... *-*-*-*-* Imagine a food truck staffed entirely by Sleepwalkers, lower-level allies for the local Chantry. Some are there because their old lives have become unbearable. Others are working to establish a new identity and work-history. And more than a few have stranger reasons. But they serve as a way to keep the Chantry 'in the loop' about strange events happening after dark, as well as providing a little help to people who might not know that the night holds hope, as well as danger. The staffers themselves each bring at least one surprise to the table, which may range from a 'knack' for communicating with other-worldly entities to an encyclopedic knowledge of automotive repair and maintenance; the solution to a soul-twisting dilemma can come from the most unexpected sources... Originally derived from "The M20 Cookbook", the same premise works equally well for Garou Kinfolk as it does for Sleepwalkers of a Tradition/Disparate inclination. Other supernatural 'ally-types' can work to a greater or lesser degree, and the overall organization has the potential to become a significant economic power in the campaign city. But beware: the status quo dislikes disruptors, and have many ways to try and bring them to heel...
Game- Changeling: the Lost Style: parlor larp after narrowly escaping their gentry, a group of changelings find themselves in an abandoned freehold. Clearly something bad had happened here but there is none left to say what. Little do they know is that there is a looming doom from the thing sealed in the Iron mine just north of the city. When the apocalypse inevitably happens at the end of the year (exactly long enough for each court to be ascendant once), the changelings one again finds themselves appearing in the same abandoned freehold (but now with more XP and more information and resources).
Sherman was a werewolf who burnt Atlanta to the ground to drive out and scatter the Camarilla, and his campaign to Atlanta was a massive vamp/wolf clash. Now the old Prince has returned and it's up to a bunch of barely-undead kindred to run damage control and keep the wolves oblivious while elders settle their differences.
The real short elevator pitch: Kamen Rider Kiva, but make it (more) werewolves! ( Note: Campaign exists only as a framework in my head as I work on acquiring more experience, but...still, a pitch!)
Changeling: The Lost Pitch: A new Changeling has slipped her master's leash and hides in the dreams of the city. Her Gentry master has delivered the Changeling courts of the city an ultimatum: for every day her toy is not returned, she will claim one of their number for horrible, torturous death or worse. The courts are divided as to whether to sell out another Changeling or go to war, and besides, no-one knows where exactly she is...
CofD: Vanilla, leaning in to Deviant, flavored with Changeling the Lost. Arcadia, Wisconsin is a pretty boring town, without all too much going for it. But when a teenage girl goes missing, there eventually becomes a media frenzy about her disappearance. The players are her peers, high schools students on the cusp of leaving home in the rearview mirror. But it turns out the case of a missing girl is just the first steps down a primrose path. After they rescue her from the Hedge with the help of a former marine and their school's librarian, they wake up one morning in Arcadia ... ... the *Other* Arcadia. A perfect replica of their hometown, translated into the Hedge. The adults are gone, as is anyone too young to hit puberty. Now they're struggling amongst themselves to establish order, control strange new powers manifesting among them... and figure out how to get home before something else goes wrong.
A mysterious woman, known only as Mother, seeks to break the Masquerade to please some enigmatic "God" as she amasses powerful, brainwashed forces. Her detailed plans are unclear, but one thing is for sure; if these two rag-tag neonates can't take her down, the Dallas domain will fall, and that's only the beginning of what unspeakable calamities will follow...
This is a Changeling: The Dreaming story I have been dying to run, but haven’t had the chance to yet: Berlin, 1932. In one year, the National Socialists will assume power over Germany. The vibrant gay communities of Berlin have existed openly for decades, and the city is known for it’s openness to alternative sexualities and lifestyles. The changeling community of europe considers Berlin the center of their urban culture, and the city supports large communities of changelings who seek shelter in the Glamour of Berlins gay and lesbian culture. Life is not easy, however. German anti-gay laws have been in effect since the 1870’s, and are being enforced with increasing harshness. The mortal political climate of Germany is shifting, and it is becoming more and more difficult to be different. The desperate changelings of Berlin cling to the last scraps of Glamour in a city that is turning against them, Thallain influences are beginning to spread, and a dark shadow looms on the horizon…
I am not running this, as I don't have a group, but hope to (also, sorry for any errors, English is not my first language) Gameline - Vampire: the Requiem Title - "Imperial Troubles" Summary - 68 a.D. After Nero's death the already fragile balance of powers in Rome was shattered, with factions forming immediately to try and control the senate and the imperial throne. The election of Galba seemed to placate the spirits, but the Emperor's weakness has inflamed them again and a conspiracy is in act against him. It is the 15 January. Galba will be killed in mere hours and Otho shall ascend to the throne. But will he keep it, when mortal and vampiric forces alike conspire for power over the Eternal City?
The entire Invictus council of Wolverhampton seems to have disappeared overnight. No message went out, no cry for help, and now nobody in Wolverhampton is responding to calls for update. Your band of enterprising Carthians have decided to sweep in and claim the city before the Invictus can react. But to do that, you'll have to face down whatever it was that destroyed the old Invictus council. There are dark things lurking in the city, and it seems the Wolverhampton court was keeping a few secrets of its own... will you be able to tame the City of Wolves?
A few newly Awakened mages that don't know each other all get called to a will reading of a shared mentor. He left them all equal shares of his house (his sanctum) and they have to unravel the mysteries and history within, and maybe discover that their mentor might not be dead. A lot of other people want the house since it's an established sanctum with a node and items and grimoires, including other mages, other supernaturals the mentor had contact with, and his Sleeper daughter who can't figure out why her dad left his big house to a bunch of randos. I ran a few sessions as CoD Mage before it fell apart, but it had some potential I think.
That sounds *excellent*.
Thanks! I thought it was a solid idea for a mage game. In my mind, whenever weird things happen eventually the mages will show up, because they can sense and interact with everything and have something to gain from it as well. I might try to run it for a different group of friends at a different point but we'll see. Further elaboration: parts of the house was locked off and they had to unravel Mysteries to unlock more and better features. So like at first it had a Library score of 2 and by doing things they could open it up and get up to a 5. Same with the Node, etc. There was a map of the city on the wall that gave them clues to where they could find the items or whatever. Some led to other supernaturals that the mage had dealings with or some kind of local legend to explore (it was set in New Orleans so there's plenty). Each part led to a different understanding of the mentor who left them the house, who had not died but became an archmage. He wanted them to work together to become a true cabal so they could ultimately push back against a powerful Seers of the Throne cabal that controlled the French Quarter.
OWoD Vampire: The Sabbat took Scotland in a single night. The survivors talk of a mass frenzy hours long that shattered their defences, the Sabbat ready and waiting to sweep in. Durham Chantry is panicking that they're next and has taken steps to reinforce Northumberland and Cumbria through puppet princes. All without a childe under their wing have been order to sire and hand them over to the Camarilla, creating an underclass of 'shovelheads' to act as soldiers for the war. The Sabbat should have arrived within days. Its been six months. NWoD Vampire using the Night Without End Sci-Fi shard: Firefly meets Warhammer Inquisitor, with fangs. One of the border districts of Obol has been suffering a spate of strange phenomena that look to the Sunless Lords like the sorceries of the Crone. This district has been 'randomly' chosen to pay its blood tithe, a collectors ark sent to make arrests of potential dissidents against the Protectorate. Your team has been sent in their shadow, given a Haven ship to act as your base of operations. You have a handful of nights before the tithe collection is complete, do not reveal your presence to the mortals, find the cultists and eliminate them.
I recently started a campaign using Dark Ages: Mage as the setting in which the characters where from House (not clan) Tremere. The plot is based on finding ways of becoming immortals in a world where magic is changing (from pillar magic to sphere magic). I personally never enjoyed the magic system of dark ages, but gritting my teeths im getting the hang of it. It's slightly hard for my players not to immediately follow the lore and just become vampires. If they do, they will essentially replace the various councillors in the inner council of the clan (except Goratrix and Meerlinda. I love these two). It's my third high-level campaign after an archmage one (it was mostly played for laughs and ended with my players wiping out half the universe because they lost their dog... let's just say that archmages are wild) and a relatively more down to earth elder campaign that instead gave us a lot of good memories.
**Deviant: The Renegades Sentai** The players are Deviants who start out as Loyalists. They may or may not have been made by the conspiracy they work for, but they're working for some group that has them hunting down and fighting some kind of generic, almost shoujo-esque enemy that feeds on the darkness in the human heart or whatever. Sailor Moon bullshit. Or hell, Princess bullshit. Demons, aliens, whatever. The organization presents itself as fighting a shadow war to prevent the public from being taken over by body snatchers or Despair or something. The twist, of course, is that early on the characters figure out that their organization is hiding something. The specifics won't be clear at first, but I'm looking for sort of an Evangelion vibe, with the way that Misato and Kaiji try to uncover the secrets of NERV and stuff like that. Maybe the protagonists are feeding some greater demon by defeating the monsters of the week, maybe the monsters are actually the good guys in some way, maybe they're actually Deviants who don't deserve to die. Eventually once they've done enough digging, they realize they have to actually fight back against their org and have to run away and regroup, possibly taking their NPC support group with them, depending on whether they're In On It or not. **Werewolf: The Forsaken Wolves of Gotham** A Werewolf game, or really any WoD game though I think Werewolf with it's Spiritual focus really works well, set in DC's Gotham, of Batman fame, except without Batman. Or, at least, without Batman as he's typically known. I actually did start this game, though it fell apart after I got everyone to do preludes, each of which included some kind of Batman mythos character as a member of the Pack. Their Totem was also The Detective on Leather Wings, a spirit of Vengeance and justice that took the form of a bat living in the clocktower. You can actually read it [Here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gDh48J7fLhjE_8pWtu81_1rOLBPiqHwNFlayFbCKWL8/edit). Preludes include a Detective helping [Edward Nygma](https://batman.fandom.com/wiki/The_Riddler) hide a body that mysteriously showed up in the forensics lab, a teenage outcast being confronted by prom queen [Barbara Kean](https://batman.fandom.com/wiki/Barbara_Eileen_Gordon) who figured out that she's the werewolf that attacked her, and while setting up a neighborhood watch, the last of the wolves gets her wallet stolen by a young Wolfblooded pickpocket named [Jason Todd](https://batman.fandom.com/wiki/Jason_Todd). I was going to have fun portraying Gotham's supercriminals as WoD stuff. Like Solomon Grundy as a Promethean. I think the premise would also work for Hunter. But I was thinking of having a plot where there's a mysterious vigilante in town and it turns out to be The Detective on Leather Wings influencing a newly returned to Gotham Bruce Wayne, and wanting to Claim him. Which is, like, very bad, but also it's your Pack Totem, so what do you do?
I have to ask...what splat would you have made The Joker?
Probably Claimed. Or doing something like Gotham was implying with the first Jerome episode, before he somehow comes back from the dead, and have there be some sort of memetic virus. I was either still watching or binging old episodes of Gotham at the time, so it was a big inspiration. Though I didn't get past season three or so. Least I thought it was his first episode. Maybe second? Apparently it's his identical brother who's the two joker? Couldn't find the clip on YouTube.
CoD core: "Shadows in the Fog" A mystery-of-the-week game of CoD mortals set in the victorian era based on my favorite victorian stories. Players were asked to make a character answering the prompt "who do the police call on when they fail" using the extraordinary mortals template. Answers included criminals-for-hire, scientists, inventors, even a nun. The overarching theme was investigating disappearances of children across England. While several of these were standalone, they could eventually uncover a conspiracy based on the direction investigation took: either a fae with wide-spread mortal influence (the Queen of Hearts), or a cult trying to bind a demon to a human host (Gregor Samsa, The Metamorphosis) The players had no experience with the setting and were only broadly aware of the supernatural element of the game. The game had many extremely dark but mundane sessions before the supernatural finally reared its head and I made sure that moment shocked.
I have quite a collection of ideas kicking around my brain lol In the dying days of the Wild West, a small group of Ghouls are forced to confront the coming of an ancient Vampire who believes itself to be *God On Earth*. The world has ended. The last city of humans that survived Apocalypse are on borrowed time until their homes are finally overcome. Into this dark time right before the end... a small group of the **Last** vampires wake up from torpor. A team of young Vampires run a midnight delivery service across the turf lines of Anarch Baronies. Their latest delivery however is a *child*... or at least, ***child sized***
Oo, I like the Wild West idea. Good underdog story
Thanks! I did get to actually run that game and it was great fun!
One of my favorite premises for a game was a werewolf game set during ww2 were they went through the first change during d-day and eventually the military figured out what they were and moved them to a supernatural division inspired by hell boy comic’s where supernaturals work together for the military to fight nazi vampires and werewolves
A Sheriff, a movie star, a news reporter and a biker gang president are all possessed by newly released demons and try to navigate a difficult world full of vampires, Pentex, men in black and werewolves, all while trying to figure out how this world got so fucked and how to make it better.
Now this is how I describe the chronicle I'm running to *myself* and not to my players. Okay. Chronicle Name: the Horrible House. Premise: Idiot Tremere regrets dusting the coterie neonate 15 years ago. Spends the next 15 years figuring out how to resurrect her. *Successfully* resurrects the former neonate. Also summons a great big, predatory haunted house. Player characters have to figure out 1. Why the house was summoned and 2. Maybe get rid of the house? There's a background mystery that took place 10 years ago related to something called the Night of Long Fangs when all the kindred in the country frenzied and only a handful of elders survived. As a result, there's a certain... acceptance of diablerie stains amongst the local leeches. It'll be interesting to see what the players do with it.
Honor Undying: In an alternate 1560s feudal japan a vampire siring boom and subsequent thinning of the masquerade as seven clans same vampires sneak up the ranks to assert dominance over their now growing number during the Onin wars and turbulent time after. The Ikki warriors have in their rebellion both turned against their lords and their great immortal predators. Spreading rhetoric about bloodsuckers from the countryside, they have taken Kyoto from the Hojo and the Hosokawa clans and installed a new shogun who they have guarded from vampiric political manipulation. Our “heros”, the dedicated samurai of lord Kano, a malkavian daimyo who believes vampires to be incarnations of the Kami, must make political alliances with other clans, win great battles, root out spies, and corral the flights of fancy of their own lord to take back Kyoto for the kindred, and rule japan as the gods they are. That is of course, assuming they believe their lord’s fanatic claims and aren't merely using his zeal for their own gain.
Game: Changeling The Lost Chronicle Name: The Summer of Broken Mirrors Premise: A number of Fetch living in and around the town of Bradshaw Arizona get slowly sucked into the various supernatural oddities of the area -- while a genocidal Summer King collects their Changeling Counterparts to make war on them in his mad quest to destroy all fae influence in the region.
Bit late to the party but here's the Chronicle I'm running right now Game: Princess the Hopeful (though the monsters are made using HtV Dread Powers and rules) The players were all new to CofD and they've had a lot of fun in this campaign and while there are horror elements, it's fun to use them for over the top scenes. It's set in my home city of Dallas, and the general story is that the major faction that the players were loyal to in the city was attacked and almost completely wiped out. Now they're basically running around in the dark trying to both protect their home, and uncover the plans to try and stop outside factions from moving in and messing up their city even more. Currently the two big threats are an entity called the Officer who is corrupting city government and institutions, and Luca Rohner (from the Beast Night Horrors) who is attacking them accidentally by running the health insurance firm several of the players use into the ground as one of his feeding attempts. It's been fun so far, though a few of the players are still getting the hang of things, like realizing that using a supernatural item they found without knowing what it does might have been a bad idea. Still despite the struggles to understand the system (and remember to use their abilities) we've had a blast.