Vampire: The Masquerade: Los Angeles by Night 5th Edition

V5 Chronicle Tips

1. The Social Satire of Vampire: The Masquerade

2.  An analysis of Anarchs in Vampire: The Masquerade

3. Ten Tips to Running the Anarchs in V5 

4. Ten Tips to Running the Second Inquisition in V5 

5. Ten Tips to Running the Sabbat in V5 

6. Ten Chronicles for Sabbat PCs in V5 

7. Ten Tips to Running the Camarilla in V5 

8. Ten Tips to Running the Thin-Bloods in V5 

9. Ten Tips to Running the Tremere in V5  

10. Ten Real Life-Inspired Chronicles for V5
11. V5 NPC Update: Sullivan Dane
12. 101 Mundane Details for V:TM Games 
13. 101 Street Crime and Personal Horror Scenarios
14. The Judas Compact or "How the Sabbat got their groove stolen"
15. How much should Vampire PCs and NPCs know?
16. Ten Tips to using Touchstones in V5

17. Why metaplot matters in the World of Darkness

    I wrote a novel for submission to 5th Edition as a pitch for reviving the book spin offs of VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE last year called KNIGHT OF FREEDOM that was one of two I completed. The project was rejected but the other one would have starred Lucita. Knight of Freedom had the premise that Theo Bell has been hiding in the Anarch Free States for the past decade or so since his assassination of Hardelstadt and kept expecting the hammer to fall down. The joke was that Theo Bell was living a comparative life of luxury being passed around between the Barons and the Camarilla had no real interest in assassinating him for reasons that were revealed in the novel. But also because Theo Bell worked much better as an unliving Non-Red List symbol of Anarch perfidy than someone they wanted to martyr.

    Among the things I established in the book was the following:

Kindred of Note

1. Baron Louis Fortier: The ruler of Bel-Air and one of the most powerful Barons around as well as the richest, he's also someone all of the Anarchs are generally embarrassed about. Mostly because he's a Ventrue French potentate who rule exactly like a Prince except perhaps an unusually generous one. Louis is notably someone who is aware of the fact that as ruler of a huge chunk of LA, he's more powerful than most Princes in America and has the mind that if he allied with the Camarilla, they'd swiftly replace him with someone else. Ergo, he's quite happy to be like Napoleon and claim he's all for the Revolution while wielding immense power. All of his wives have left him but he continually ends up finding new young Kindred mistresses since he has a most- Un-Elder obsession with Sex.

2. The MacNeils: This is not actually a Barony but a Clan of Brujah descended from the Beckoned or dead Jeremy. They constantly feud for power and routinely end up staking each other but never kill one another. The current leader is his youngest progeny who helped steal the Stone of Scone in 1950. Annie MacDougal is a pain in the ass for all Anarchs because she insists anyone not like Jeremy is failing to be Anarch enough. Many think he bloodbound her before he went away because no Kindred could be that stupidly loyal.

3. The Undisputed Baron of the Valley, Victor Temple: Yet another Ventrue who has weasaled his way to the top, he's a lot more accepted by Baron Fortier but only because he's younger and hipper with a reputation roughly akin to Suge Knight's. His affable demeanor conceals as much violence and ruthlessness as any other Ventrue ruler, though. He is also somewhat careless with the Masquerade and this is likely to get him killed well before his other stunts. He recently has begun feuding with longtime ally Nelli-G.

4. Hesha Ruhadze: The Ministry archaeologist and Theopidian joining with the breakaway sect was something few expected but he's taken over the Church of Set and become heavily involved in counter-culture Satanism as a trick to lure in vessels as well as attack traditional religion. He lives in Pasadena and generally leaves most of the regular Anarch business to lesser childer as he focuses on Clan business. Generally, Hesha's opinion of the Anarchs can be summarized as, "same blood, different vessels." He is a cynical old snake who thinks there is no difference between the Camarilla and Anarchs than the former smell better but he's dealt with plenty of peasant revolutions and rabble rousers before. It'll all come together eventually around an elite he's already a member of.

5. Nelli G: The beautiful Toreador descendant of the Griffith family, Nelli G is a habitual traitor to the Kindred race and has allied with the Second Inquisition to eliminate her enemies in Hollywood. She's also surrendered Griffith Park to the Garou, causing a small war with the local Gangrel (led by Ramona). Her humanity has gone down rapidly since the murder of her sire and doesn't seem to be stopping as the power has gotten to her. She is the Lady of Hollywood and its strip, controlling kindred who want fame, money, drugs, and blood. Her second in command is Vivi and she is already plotting against her, which Nelli approves of as it keeps her sharp.

6. Nines Rodriguez: Nines is pissed and is unlikely to stop being so any time soon. He's been essentially given a role to help protect the Masquerade in the city by all of the Barons allowing him free passage as well as to that of his gang. It's a role that Nines notes is suspiciously similar to that of a Sheriff even though he considers himself a Cleaner. He also feels like some people want him to have even more power that would make him, you guessed it, a Baron of Barons. One, of course, with lots of powerful Barons as a Council behind him. Nines is disgusted and is wondering if they should put Theo in charge just as a F-U to the system. He HATES Hesha.

7. Theresa/Jeanette: The very much disputed Baron of Santa Monica and several other territories, Theresa and Jeanette are direly opposed to one another but between them control everything but the Pier. They are surprisingly accepting of Thin Bloods and other immigrants. She's also one of the most ruthless in destroying them or playing them off against her "sister." Theresa is notable in that she also controls a large chunk of Las Vegas from the Asylum franchise there and is debating giving up one territory for the other. Basically, Sin City is ripe for picking and the Hecata have made her an offer to be their figurehead.

8. Smiling Jack and Jenna Cross: Smiling Jack was, unsurprisingly, Beckoned given his age and obsession with Noddism. What's weird is he claims he's back from the Middle East and with greater insight than ever. His adopted childe, Jenna Cross, has also become head of one of the largest Duskborn groups in America with over forty members. While based in Santa Monica, they are spread all through California and on the web. It is here they are working on using Thin Blooded Alchemy to try to win a place in the Anarchs equal to a Clan.

9. Wei: : An invasion of the Tzimisce from China briefly disrupted the life of many Asian American Kindred in California. Wei was embraced by one of them and helped lead a revolt after their leader was assassinated by the LA Ripper. Wei is now in control of Chinatown and generally has the view that they're Americans and weird clan abilities shouldn't mean much. Still, he's as power hungry and ruthless as any other Kindred leader. Ironically, Wei has a big secret he's keeping from his former Anarchs that will destroy him. The irony is that it's not a typical Kindred secret: it's that he was a former undercover LA detective.

10. Ramona:​ Ramona is weirded out by the fact that as an anti-social Gangrel who never was close to her clan, she's become a celebrity for her part in the defection to the Anarchs. Ironically, her aloofness means that people take her "fuck off and figure it out for yourself" attitude as wisdom. Reluctantly, she's become a den mother for other Gangrel in the city and many Dustborn and Caitiff. She has also claimed Griffith Park for her territory and the expected massacre by the Garou Nelli G counted on didn't happen. They apparently are having their own issues and the caern there is temporarily abandoned. Ramona rarely spends time there anyway and mostly uses her "dominion" there as a title to scare people away.

11. The Los Angeles Ripper: A mysterious Kindred embraced during the short-lived reign of Prince La Croix. Not much is known about them, even their clan, though many believe them to be a Malkavian who uses Obfuscate to impersonate other Clans or even genders. The Los Angeles Ripper is believed to have been a very Low Generation Cainite who also had unusual strength for a Neonate and destroyed several Elders despite being only a few weeks old. He/she is considered something of an unofficial Scourge, working against troublemakers. Ironically, they're well-liked among the Dustborn and believed to be involved somehow with Jenna Cross. They are also partial to redheads.

12. Vannevar Thomas:  The third Prince of LA, he's actually close to being the Prince of Glendale. Ironically, that's actually better than most princes and since recovering his sanity after being tortured by Theresa/Jeanette, he's become somewhat tolerated among the Anarchs. Vannevar is aware that he was sent to LA to die and is now plotting his own long-term strategy: to regain San Fransisco. While few Anarchs would willingly ally with Cammie scum, he's very persuasive and very rich. As such, he's gradually built up a cadre of allies. Ironically, his brief insanity also seems to have knocked the Beckoning from his system and he notes he has outlived a lot of his former enemies. He is accompanied by his consort, Susan, who is as typical a Toreador as exists.