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CleverCrumbish1 year ago

Ran this at an indie rpg club meeting for halloween. I loved it, and I think the other players had a good time. The one player who chose the Nihilist drive struggled, though, and it was mainly because we couldn't really figure out how that drive is supposed to work-

  • Do you gain 2 thirst every moment no matter what? That seems bad because it means there are moments where your approach and conception of the scene do not matter because you'll need to immediately break off the moment for reaching 5 thirst. That's not fun and it disincentivises the player from engaging with creating a moment they know isn't going to matter. Playing it this way really made the Nihilist player very disheartened because we had a limited number of moments in the time permitted and she was conscious that for a given one of those moments her input into what the moment should be basically did not matter at all because her character would have to leave immediately after arriving.
  • Is 2 your thirst "floor"? If so, does the Nihilist vampire always reset to 2 thirst when they break off? Or do they progress in thirst normally but have 0 or 1 thirst replaced with 2 for the purposes of moments?
  • Do you always start a moment with 2 thirst regardless of your previous value, and can only ever be made to break off by a +3 thirst roll outcome? This would be very cool, and fit with the characterisation of a vampire who doesn't restrain themself in the way others more concerned with ambition do, but it's not really well-conveyed by the text and we couldn't really justify that being what was meant.

I know this game was released a long while ago now, but that was more or less our only big problem with it and I really enjoyed it, so I would love some clarification on how that drive in particular is meant to work.

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Tŷ Gwrachod70 days ago

I am absolutely MORTIFIED that this comment sat here for over a year and I had no kind of notification or anything that it had been made. Shame upon my house.

So firstly, I'm so glad you played this ol' game of mine and enjoyed it, and even more glad you came back to say so and give feedback. It doesn't happen often, but it lights up my night whenever it does, and - thank you.

Now. The Nihilist. When I originally wrote Bloodspell, I think I intended the Nihilist as a kind of trap option: the point being that you need a more substantial drive to get through eternity, that being a directionless wild child gets you into trouble and doesn't get you what you want. Think about Ava in Only Lovers Left Alive, who turns up, charms and bites whoever she fancies, and causes trouble before she exits the narrative.

However: that's an artifact of the mood I was in at the time (bad) and the chip I had on my shoulder about "playing the monster" (substantial). I don't necessarily stand by that design decision now, and it's something I'll change if/when I get around to assembling the Extended Edition (it has fiction, an age/experience mechanic that calls Dracula an asshole, story structure tools, and a Chumbawumba reference). I really like your last suggestion, as it happens: the Nihilist doesn't let the small stuff stop them, and is undone by the big stuff that tends to arise from that attitude. Ignoring everything but the critical +3 would let Nihilist characters dig their own holes, and that feels like a better service of the inspirational material - not to mention a lot more fun to play.

Suggestion (belatedly) accepted. Thank you again for making it.

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