Tuesday, June 26, 2012

[WOD] Why Does He Do That?

On Vinnie motivations and such.

Vinnie started off in Austin as a soldier, looking for an army to join.

As an Ordo, he had a built in army. He was given missions from higher ups, just like any soldier. some of his missions had a direct and obvious purpose, while others were more subdued, inobvious and vampire-y.


Vinnie doesn't talk about why he does things very often, and certainly not with other Kindred. He knows Kindred share a tendency to be less than clear about their motives or aims, and sees the wisdom in it, after having seen first hand all sorts of scheming.

Vinnie was primarily motivated by the pursuit of power. Vinnie's particular avenue to power has always been knowledge. Most of his interactions with other Supernaturals have been to gain information or access to it, and he has used the information to fuel his adventures. Some of the people he has encountered have been more useful than others, and he has pursued deeper relationships with them.

Vinnie embraces both his Mekhet and his Ordo natures, and has come to realize that the only way to gain the power he wants is to adapt as things progress, 'see things', and do a whole lot more listening.



At one point, Vinnie wanted to kill the Commissioner if the situation presented itself. He's now in the position of viewing the Commissioner as something of a mentor, especially regarding philosophy and the nature of God's purpose for the Kindred in their existence.

While Vinnie doesn't have a lot of experience understanding or discerning supernatural things, he has been exposed to quite a few and is just now starting to understand how they interact with each other and what advantages to use when. His particular avenue of attack at this venture is to befriend one of the Mist-Walkers, and use this person as a  walking "dead-detector". He's also decided that it's hilarious fun to torment the Mages, but in a subtle and devious way.

(The Mages are protecting someone they think Vinnie and/or Reese are after for nefarious purposes. Vinnie has made a big production of wanting to talk to the fellow, and the Mages have become defensive. Vinnie doesn't really care about the person in question, but instead wants to push the Mages out of their hidey hole by being very persistent about finding said person.)

My major problem with playing Vinnie at the moment is that I don't think very quickly. I am usually trying to play catch up by at least one game session, if not two...


4 comments:

  1. It's tough when your character's Wits/Wisdom is higher than yours, isn't it? I've had the same problem. I'm sure it's out there somewhere, but the subject of characters whose abilities exceed their creators would probably make a good article.
    It's not even a subject restricted to games. The high intelligence of characters like Superman, Batman and Iron Man are restricted by that of their writers.

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  2. It is tough. I don't quite know how to handle it. It's made worse by some very quick thinking players, so I am trying to keep my head above water.

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    1. The only thing I can recommend is to think about the character outside of game and decide how your character may react to certain situations, e.g. if he suddenly found himself betrayed and outnumbered, what would he do? Preparing in advance can prevent that "deer in the headlights" mental paralysis when you find yourself in unexpected circumstances.

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  3. Yeah, I've played a Champions character who was much more intelligent than me, and from time to time it was a pain in the posterior. And of course there is the reverse, where I played an intelligence challenged character in a post apocalyptic setting.

    It is hard trying to out think someone who is quick on their feet. I hope that because I usually run my games by winging it that I have some practice at that.

    Tom

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