Post by Hephaestus on Sept 8, 2013 19:35:43 GMT -8
This past game was pretty eventful. I’m writing this post because I really want everyone to have a clear understanding of what happened and why I felt it was necessary for my character to take the actions he did.
When I am deciding on the behavior of my character I take two things into account most heavily: the personality and beliefs of my character, and how the actions of my character can create enjoyment for other players. To do this, I try and match my character’s actions to the level of engagement and risk that the other players’ characters display by their actions. In this particular case, the other players involved had displayed interest in PvP stories by ending other player characters. Those characters made their intentions towards me and my allies clear through all of our interactions and public to the domain as evidenced by this harpy post:
“Well, this past week has been an exciting one. The Nosferatu are in the spotlight with their very public infighting brought about by Hephaestus who accused Primogen Kotjah of breaking the Right of Domain by banning a Nosferatu stuck in the body of a crocodile—someone whose name I never even got—from Elysium. Unbeknownst to Hephaestus, Primogen Kotjah was acting on the word of our Prince. I do believe Hephaestus is in for some bad news based on his hasty, ill-conceived actions. However, our august Harpy, Colin, will take care of that matter.
As an interesting note, since the Nosferatu fracas there has been much talk about Elysium and what Elysium is for. Statements that Elysium is older than the Traditions, and thus supersedes them. Others state that because the Traditions are newer, they trump the old version of Elysium. That begs the question of what a Camarilla Elysium in the Emerald Domain means. Elysium is traditionally the place of Elders. It’s also a place of non-violence. Though, we’ve seen this latter broken time and again. Elysium is supposed to be neutral ground for all parties but some state that this is not true.
I believe that our Honorable Keeper, Cecilia D’Amore, can answer all of these burning questions brought to light by Clan Nosferatu.
And speaking of the Nosferatu, I fear that Hephaestus’ turn in the hot seat is not over. It appears that a couple weeks back, while he and Skir were visiting with Primogen Simone and Host Mad Tom, Hephaestus felt the need to stake Mad Tom in “self defense” with a stake, hidden within the thick of his cane… when there was no real fear for his or Skir’s safety. Tom claims he was not out of control. The last I heard, Hephaestus has agreed to sooth the Malkavians’ ire through some gladiatorial combat with a Malkavian champion… and if he is able to avoid the 'staking blow' and overcome his opponent, he would be released from further debt due to his insult to Mad Tom. I suppose, as this is a matter of status and debt, I should be there to witness the fight.
As for Skir, our Exalted, Vigilant, Resourceful Prince Dario has nothing but contempt for the man who, rather than be Decisive, has acted in a rash manner; rather than be Knowledgeable, has acted in ignorance in regards to the Emerald Domain; rather than be Calculating, has shown nothing but transparent and ill-conceived plans to sow discord; rather than be Feared, has acted in an infantile manner, riding on the coattails of the terrifying reputation of others. At this time, His Highness, the Judicious, Discerning, Famous man that he is, sees no value in a man like Skir. Unless Skir does something of great value—like show up to court with Khalid’s head in a bag—he will never be welcomed into the Emerald Domain.”
Read more: www.vampst.proboards.com/thread/15637/masks-mirrors?page=1#scrollTo=98990#ixzz2eL6u4aAx
I did not create my character with character death in mind, nor did I assemble a list of powers and call it a character. I even edited my original sheet down because I realized I didn’t what to play an incredibly high powered guy. That said, my character came to realize the week before this last game that if he didn’t act first he would be dead, and so my character took the most effective action he could in the time that he had. In canon, when the prince wants you dead, you either die or attempt to take praxis. I brought my character in as a high status elder with no other intention than making a home here, and was greeted with near instant hostility and constant statements of how poorly the prince thought of the Nosferatu and how close he was to having them all killed. It was stated to me that the only way to achieve acknowledgement was to deal with Khalid, which I attempted to do in a diplomatic fashion.
Any success that was made in dealing with the creature was met with accusations of aiding or serving it to the detriment of the city. No action or assurances we gave were able to dissuade these assumptions. As my character was innocent of these crimes, he felt that he was being unjustly persecuted and that his status was ignored for no other reason than being a Nosferatu. When another Nosferatu with status was driven from the city for no other reason than his appearance, Hephaestus was certain of the court’s intention to continue persecution of his clan and to seek his death; he had no other choice but to defend himself and his clan. His success was not due to being a min-maxed combat character, but rather because he a good spy and was able to hit his enemies while all vampires are weakest, in their sleep. I honestly was pretty sure this would lead to my characters demise, but I felt that I had to act as my character would have, and at the same level of risk that they other players involved had chosen to engage at.
Losing characters before their time sucks, no matter the circumstances. From my perspective as a player I feel bad that it came to this, because PvP plots are not the most fun thing for me. That was the storyline that the other players wanted to pursue though, and I respect that. I am sad that the players’ night was ruined by showing up to game only to lose their characters. I wish there could have been a way to give them a heads up before game so that they could be prepared, but I honestly did not know how this would be resolved until just minutes before game and I expected it to be a more prolonged scene. The staff handled this very difficult situation, perhaps the most difficult kind of situation that a staff must deal with, very well considering the short notice they had.
There was moment I found touching at the end of the night that I would like echo here, as the players involved were not there to see it. During noms Chris Schetzle brought to our attention that before leaving Toni took the time to pick out and let us use her props for Tiki Toms so that we could still have a beautiful Elysium to play in. Many of the players who lost their characters last game worked very hard to give us an atmospheric setting for game, and despite our character’s disagreements, I want them to know that their effort and work was deeply appreciated and I wish that they could have heard the applause.
When I am deciding on the behavior of my character I take two things into account most heavily: the personality and beliefs of my character, and how the actions of my character can create enjoyment for other players. To do this, I try and match my character’s actions to the level of engagement and risk that the other players’ characters display by their actions. In this particular case, the other players involved had displayed interest in PvP stories by ending other player characters. Those characters made their intentions towards me and my allies clear through all of our interactions and public to the domain as evidenced by this harpy post:
“Well, this past week has been an exciting one. The Nosferatu are in the spotlight with their very public infighting brought about by Hephaestus who accused Primogen Kotjah of breaking the Right of Domain by banning a Nosferatu stuck in the body of a crocodile—someone whose name I never even got—from Elysium. Unbeknownst to Hephaestus, Primogen Kotjah was acting on the word of our Prince. I do believe Hephaestus is in for some bad news based on his hasty, ill-conceived actions. However, our august Harpy, Colin, will take care of that matter.
As an interesting note, since the Nosferatu fracas there has been much talk about Elysium and what Elysium is for. Statements that Elysium is older than the Traditions, and thus supersedes them. Others state that because the Traditions are newer, they trump the old version of Elysium. That begs the question of what a Camarilla Elysium in the Emerald Domain means. Elysium is traditionally the place of Elders. It’s also a place of non-violence. Though, we’ve seen this latter broken time and again. Elysium is supposed to be neutral ground for all parties but some state that this is not true.
I believe that our Honorable Keeper, Cecilia D’Amore, can answer all of these burning questions brought to light by Clan Nosferatu.
And speaking of the Nosferatu, I fear that Hephaestus’ turn in the hot seat is not over. It appears that a couple weeks back, while he and Skir were visiting with Primogen Simone and Host Mad Tom, Hephaestus felt the need to stake Mad Tom in “self defense” with a stake, hidden within the thick of his cane… when there was no real fear for his or Skir’s safety. Tom claims he was not out of control. The last I heard, Hephaestus has agreed to sooth the Malkavians’ ire through some gladiatorial combat with a Malkavian champion… and if he is able to avoid the 'staking blow' and overcome his opponent, he would be released from further debt due to his insult to Mad Tom. I suppose, as this is a matter of status and debt, I should be there to witness the fight.
As for Skir, our Exalted, Vigilant, Resourceful Prince Dario has nothing but contempt for the man who, rather than be Decisive, has acted in a rash manner; rather than be Knowledgeable, has acted in ignorance in regards to the Emerald Domain; rather than be Calculating, has shown nothing but transparent and ill-conceived plans to sow discord; rather than be Feared, has acted in an infantile manner, riding on the coattails of the terrifying reputation of others. At this time, His Highness, the Judicious, Discerning, Famous man that he is, sees no value in a man like Skir. Unless Skir does something of great value—like show up to court with Khalid’s head in a bag—he will never be welcomed into the Emerald Domain.”
Read more: www.vampst.proboards.com/thread/15637/masks-mirrors?page=1#scrollTo=98990#ixzz2eL6u4aAx
I did not create my character with character death in mind, nor did I assemble a list of powers and call it a character. I even edited my original sheet down because I realized I didn’t what to play an incredibly high powered guy. That said, my character came to realize the week before this last game that if he didn’t act first he would be dead, and so my character took the most effective action he could in the time that he had. In canon, when the prince wants you dead, you either die or attempt to take praxis. I brought my character in as a high status elder with no other intention than making a home here, and was greeted with near instant hostility and constant statements of how poorly the prince thought of the Nosferatu and how close he was to having them all killed. It was stated to me that the only way to achieve acknowledgement was to deal with Khalid, which I attempted to do in a diplomatic fashion.
Any success that was made in dealing with the creature was met with accusations of aiding or serving it to the detriment of the city. No action or assurances we gave were able to dissuade these assumptions. As my character was innocent of these crimes, he felt that he was being unjustly persecuted and that his status was ignored for no other reason than being a Nosferatu. When another Nosferatu with status was driven from the city for no other reason than his appearance, Hephaestus was certain of the court’s intention to continue persecution of his clan and to seek his death; he had no other choice but to defend himself and his clan. His success was not due to being a min-maxed combat character, but rather because he a good spy and was able to hit his enemies while all vampires are weakest, in their sleep. I honestly was pretty sure this would lead to my characters demise, but I felt that I had to act as my character would have, and at the same level of risk that they other players involved had chosen to engage at.
Losing characters before their time sucks, no matter the circumstances. From my perspective as a player I feel bad that it came to this, because PvP plots are not the most fun thing for me. That was the storyline that the other players wanted to pursue though, and I respect that. I am sad that the players’ night was ruined by showing up to game only to lose their characters. I wish there could have been a way to give them a heads up before game so that they could be prepared, but I honestly did not know how this would be resolved until just minutes before game and I expected it to be a more prolonged scene. The staff handled this very difficult situation, perhaps the most difficult kind of situation that a staff must deal with, very well considering the short notice they had.
There was moment I found touching at the end of the night that I would like echo here, as the players involved were not there to see it. During noms Chris Schetzle brought to our attention that before leaving Toni took the time to pick out and let us use her props for Tiki Toms so that we could still have a beautiful Elysium to play in. Many of the players who lost their characters last game worked very hard to give us an atmospheric setting for game, and despite our character’s disagreements, I want them to know that their effort and work was deeply appreciated and I wish that they could have heard the applause.