Ten Tips to using Touchstones in V5

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

    Touchstones are a controversial but interesting new mechanic to Vampire: The Masquerade Fifth Edition. Previously, it was possible to more or less live your unlife completely separate from the Kine ("cattle") and move around them with no interactions other than through ghoul henchmen or as food. Touchstones as a tool, however, encourage (some would say "force") players to have some interaction or care about the mortal world.  

 

    If you want to play a rules accurate player character, there has to be at least one mortal in the world that your Kindred has strong feelings regarding. These feelings do not have to be love or even affection but can include bitter loathing or resentment regarding. A vampire who hates their abusive parent and keeps them locked up in a homemade prison they pay for helps the undead keep in touch with their humanity as perversely as someone that they try to help their nephew get through college.

 

    Some players can also take the concept a little far and see Touchstones as opportunities to engage in a little Count Dracula-esque stalking. Depending on the game group, the controlling and abusive nature of a vampire might be something a group is interested in exploring while others may run the hell away since they just wanted to wear trench coats while swinging katanas ala Blade. Here are some tips for running Touchstones in V5.

 

1. Let the player provide the concept

 

    A Storyteller should primarily consider a Touchstone an in-character resource for their players rather than a tool for themselves. It is a part of the player character's background and something that they should define as well as be able to define as they see fit. It can be as close or as distant as the player wishes to make the relationship. Storytellers shouldn't attempt to encourage players to fit in any particular mold of what sort of Touchstone they want to define and be flexible about what they allow even if some concepts don't fit the mold. 

 

    A player character may have a very intimate and direct relationship with their Touchstone like being their wife or parent. The player character may also have a very distant or even ridiculous one like being a huge fan of Brittney Spears or the President. They will never interact with them but their feelings regarding them might impact their character behind the scenes. There's also splitting the middle like the fact they pay for the upkeep of the orphaned child of a victim they overfed on. Your player is probably providing a clue to you how much they want to interact with the Touchstone system when they say what sort of one they want. Don't try and force the issue but go with what feels good for them.

 

2. Set the boundaries for what is acceptable

     Players may well want to engage with the Touchstone system in a very direct and overt way by making their Touchstone a part of the game. They may want their Touchstone to be their ghoul or consort that has a daily role in their vampiric unlife. Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines had the character of Heather that the Fledgling exerted complete control over, taking over their life after Heather drank their blood once. 

 

    Without going too far, the game dealt with some deeply uncomfortable topics like Heather's blood addiction results in her abandoning her family as well as college before potentially losing her mind to kidnap victims for her master. Indeed, if the player character does not dismiss Heather, she will eventually meet her death at the hands of the Sabbat.

 

    However, when I say that it didn't go too far, I should note that it didn't go too far for me. Quite a few players were absolutely appalled by the storyline and dismissed Heather immediately. Which is fine, it depends on the player and their characters. Know what your players are comfortable and want from their Touchstones.

3. Don't use them purely as a weakness

 

    The only rules provided for Touchstones is for them to be a tool Storytellers to screw with player characters. Basically, if something happens to a Touchstone or they change in a way that disappoints a vampire's exaggerated sense of their goodness then they may take Stains. This is a bad way to run them in my mind and I feel that Touchstones should be viewed as a net good by Kindred. This doesn't need to be mechanical but a strong link between Humanity, Convictions, and Chronicle Tenets should be established. It would not be remiss for a Storyteller to award an extra point of Experience for players incorporating their Touchstones in-game or giving Willpower rewards or removing Stains related to them.

 

4. Use them effectively but sparingly

 

    Touchstones are individualized for each player character, so time spent with them is almost inherently not time the group would be experiencing together. You can get around this if they're one of the player's ghouls or have a role like a bartender at the Succubus Club but, in general, they're not going to interact much with the group as a whole. This is a good thing as they shouldn't dominate a chronicle but be used for short scenes or be background elements. Touchstones are best used in moderation and for when the player wishes to act with them as a prop. Visiting a player character's now-senile son in a nursing home is the Storyteller giving said player character's player the chance to show off their drama chops but is going to be a spotlight for one player character, not the entire coterie.

 

5. Allow the player to dictate their relationship

 

    A quick and dirty trick I learned is that players hate when the Storyteller does horrible things to their characters but absolutely love it when they do horrible things to their characters. Maybe my players are just sadists but they love setting up nightmarish scenarios where they describe the terrible backstories or torments I give them in-game permission to come up with. As such, it's entirely okay to ask the players if they have an endgame for how they see their player character's relationship with their Touchstone ending. 

 

    You can go differently but in general, having a pre-agreed upon idea is not bad for it even if it's, "I see Dave the Brujah's relationship with Stephanie ending in disaster." It could also be, "Eventually Dave the Brujah's enemies will probably get her or he'll reveal the Masquerade to her." But could more often be the PC wanting to devise something particularly twisted they'll play out on their own with the coteries help. I bring this up because one of my players wrote out a frenzy scene where his character drank from his sister after killing their parents and traumatized her into insanity, causing him to seek a way to erase her memory. It was profoundly twisted. All on his player too.

 

6. If romantic, allow the players to play out the scenes themselves

 

    Touchstones can indeed be romantic in nature but this is another area where the inclinations of the table need to be taken into account. If making a romantic interest, the player should be the ones to create them. Storytellers can suggest they prefer to go with, "Goth Girl", "Hippie Chick", "Handsome Doctor" over "International Super Star" or "Billionaire Tech Mogul" unless they buy the proper backgrounds. Still, if they want to progress it romantically, the best solution I suggest is to allow players to write out or play out their own scenes when dealing with the issue. It helps resolve any awkwardness there. As stated, players love melodrama and surrendering some control is a good decision there.

 

7. Don't be afraid to offer the option to "upgrade" your Touchstone

 

    One of the elements inherent to being a vampire is the act of siring. This is something that player characters rarely do in-game unless they're making cannon fodder like the Sabbat. They often have very light and unimportant relationships with their childer. As such, offering player characters the chance in-universe to Embrace by their Prince or Baron should be a thing they might consider for a Touchstone. This will allow them to be an NPC of greater importance to the game. 

 

    According to the rules this will cause Stains and willpower loss but as an ST you might be willing to wave that or at least ask the player to go through that for that for the sake of the roleplaying opportunity. Their Touchstone will now have a much more important role in the game and more akin to a sidekick or henchman. This can also apply to ghouldom but that comes with its own roleplaying challenges.

 

8. Don't be afraid to "award" Touchstones in-game

 

    Players are annoyed by the prospect of losing their Touchstones because they first are being asked to care about an NPC followed by the fact that it will be a pain if they do suffer any damage to them. This should be mitigated by the prospect of being able to acquire them in-game. Storytellers should tell a player when they have the opportunity to acquire a new Touchstone as well as whatever benefits they might want to get from devoting time to the relationship. Making them Allies or Contacts can also encourage them not to resent the vulnerability that an extra Touchstone represents.

 

9. Remember NPC Kindred have Touchstones too

 

    While a new rule, the lore has long established that Kindred have a dangerous fascination with mortals. Long before Vampire: The Masquerade, the undead would stalk and obsess over specific individuals far beyond their value as a next meal. Indeed, Carmilla stalked Laura since probable childhood. Which is to say nothing says that the player characters can't find out about other vampire's "weaknesses" and using them may be better than the player's own. What if Dave the Brujah's girlfriend has been kidnapped by Hunters? They force him to become an informant. Do they help rescue her or destroy him for betraying them? What if they learn about the Prince's mistress and receive offers for her identity from the Prince's enemies or her family that want to "rescue" her from his attentions?

 

10. Touchstones should be, above all else, interesting

 

    At the end of the day, Touchstones are just another tool in the Storyteller arsenal. They're meant to encourage the ST and player both to think about how to include more mortals in a vampire's life as things other than food. If they're not entertaining then they shouldn't show up. Use Touchstones as much as your story will benefit from them.