So, I'm thinking of running either a Vampire: the Dark Ages or Vampire: the Masquerade game based on Ashirra -- the "Muslim sect" if you will. It will likely be a city sandbox with regional travel and concerns.

I'm torn between a DA or Modern. Because I'm rather new at running my own Storyteller campaign, and most players seem to gravitate to that which they can relate, I'm leaning towards modern. But I'd like to populate an interesting city at least before throwing it out there for people.

So, I'm interested in Dubai, as being the most dynamic city currently in the Arabian Peninsular region. I want the Ashirra to not only already maintain peninsular domain, but to use Dubai as a symbol of ascendancy to contest the European Camarilla & Sabbat sects pressure within the region.

Ideally I want Ashirra to be the prime movers and shakers. Due to large amounts of Indonesian, Malaysian, and Filipino (essentially slave) cheap labor there should also be notable Kuei Jin presence. Prominent African banking interests, along with regional Horn of Africa migrant labor, should also entail Laibon presence as well. Oddly, a sprinkling of Anarchs might make their home here due to tech-sector interest (Dubai is a rapidly modernizing city), and likely more safely abed here than any visiting Camarilla or Sabbat (who'd be seen as competitors too belligerent to allow any long term establishment).

So what I could use is some interesting NPCs. Metro is roughly 4 million, so that's roughly 30-35 kindred. I sorta want to reserve 10+ for incoming players and ad hoc campaign NPCs, but other than that I'm up for brainstorming. Any NPC ideas?

From the way you are describing your attraction for Dubai, how you are talking about the city's current dynamism, how you talk about the roles you can see for sects such as the Camarilla and Sabbat, it seems crystal clear to me you should go with Modern Vampire to get the most out of your initial thrust/impetus/ideas so far.

I'm going to get back to your thread later and explain how I go about building a by Night myself. This is going to take some time I expect, and I got some things to do before I can devote some attention to the task. I just wanted you to know I noticed the thread.

While Benoist prepares what will probably be an epic thread in the same vein as the now classic megadungeon thread, I'll throw in my Resources oo.

First, you come up with a general outline, one that you can share with the players. "Motor City By Night is a Masquerade chronicle set in 1990s Detroit, a city wracked by economic downturns, criminal activity and lingering malaise. It's a domain which has experienced rapid depopulation, which made hunting scarce and led the previous Prince to a pogrom-like culling of the local vampire population, until he was ousted by the current Prince. His hold on power is slipping, though, with Anarchs threatening the tenuous peace by contesting the holdings of elders, the elders demanding increasingly harsh retaliation against the upstart neonates, and the Sabbat taking advantage of the confusion and slowly but surely muscling in. It's going to be a game about unfilfilled promises and about how the road to hell is paved with good intention. Also katanas and trenchcoats and mirrorshades by night, and stuff exploding in the background to the sound of Type O Negative." This is the time to look up the city you're using (history, geography, demographics, crime rate, landmarks, interesting cultural tidbits, urban legendry, etc.), or, if you're using a fictitious place, to decide on these things.

Then, you stat up key NPCs: the Prince, the Primogen, Anarch leaders, independent elders, Sabbat Bishops, etc.

Next, you gather 'round your players and have them stat up their vampires. Sit down with each one of them to create their sires; you may assign them to a NPC you've already built above, or you may collaboratively develop a new character. This is very important because it determines where the PC will start on the city's political map. I am also strongly in favor of playing a PC's Prelude (i.e. the sequence of events leading him into becoming a vampire), but that's easily done away with.

After that, you figure out the scenery. Start with the most important Elysium in town, and the PCs' (and/or their sires') havens. Move on to other Elysium sites, the havens of important vamps, hunting grounds, or just places you want to set your game in; abandoned condos, junkyards. inner city hospitals, cemeteries, nightclubs, whatever. Google Maps, news clippings and tourist guides are your friend.

Lastly, stat out NPCs to people the scenery, mortal and supernatural alike. I cannot overstate the importance of having good mortal NPCs. Also stat up other, less important vampires, and if you want other supernaturals like werewolves or mages or even monster hunters of any variety, now's the time.

And, that's pretty much it for me. Doesn't sound like a lot, but I do run a fairly low-prep, improv-heavy game.

Let me see if I can convert it in my own words to show that I'm getting the ideas right:

Outline: This is the game pitch. It establishes mood (world feel), setting (campaign scope), and theme (game style).

Stat the Power Structure NPCs: In this case its Sultan (secular leader), Imam (spiritual leader), 'alim/'ulama (religious scholars), Mullahs (most respected scholars), Qadi (judges/jurists), and 'udul (upstanding witness; "notary public").

Help Players make PCs: Work from Sire background first, because that establishes social locale upon "the board."

(Can I do this part later? I dunno if I'll get anyone to even play anytime soon. I thought it'd be nice to get some mortal NPC framework in first. And where should I put the mortal power structure? Include it in the Kindred power structure, or wait until later?)

Seed Domain with Locales: Start with prime kindred meeting places. Suggest to make political locales first, then martial or exploration locales later. Sprinkle in some additional attractions, maybe even mysteries.

Lastly Stat Quotidian NPCs: This includes everyday mortals and supernaturals. IMPORTANT - be sure to have enough solid mortal NPCs. Here supernatural outliers can be sprinkled in.

Did I get it right?

Sounds familiar to what I usually do with IN, except some of the names change (seneschals, tethers, etc.). The importance of sires and PC placement stands out though. That might be a challenge. Otherwise I like it, very loose and light. Plenty of space for players to stretch out and create their own adventures.

FYI, the prime sect movers and shakers are Brujah, Lasombra, Nosferatu (with thaumaturgy!), and Toreador. Assamites, Followers of Set, and "Laibon" (Akunanse? Ishtarri? Guruhi?) would be relatively prominent as well. Gangrel and Devil Tigers or Thrashing Dragons (kuei-jin) will likely make a visitation. Cappadocian, Ravnos, and Malkvanians would be present, but rarer walk-ons. (An ultra rare El Hijazi Ventrue might be in the wings with a Salubri or Baali, but almost never seen.)

I'm thinking of a Nosferatu as sultan and another Nosferatu as imam. In a way having a major banking hub based on faith -- leading to lots of secrecy -- is absolutely brilliant for their needs. However, the Arabian peninsula is also the home of the devout Hajji Nosferatu, who'd be a check upon this power. They'd also be there to keep the Ka'ba safe.

Quick question: There is something to be said about overdoing things at first, so I was wondering if I should bother with rough power sketches of Doha, Qatar (Al Jazeera and media hub) or Dharan/Riyadh, S.A. (entry port to Western oil professionals). Too much, too soon?

Quote from: Opaopajr;529996So what I could use is some interesting NPCs. Metro is roughly 4 million, so that's roughly 30-35 kindred. I sorta want to reserve 10+ for incoming players and ad hoc campaign NPCs, but other than that I'm up for brainstorming. Any NPC ideas?

Mine this article for ideas.

Quote from: Opaopajr;530372(Can I do this part later? I dunno if I'll get anyone to even play anytime soon. I thought it'd be nice to get some mortal NPC framework in first.

Sure. That's what we do when using pre-published settings. You might need to gop back and change the political map, though, depending on the sort of sire the PCs come up with.

Quote from: Opaopajr;530372And where should I put the mortal power structure? Include it in the Kindred power structure, or wait until later?)

The Kindred power structure necessarily exists in the shadow of the mortal one, and it'd be more accurate to say that KIndred influence is nested in a hierarchy built by mortals. Older oWoD products had the whole "OMG vampires run the world" vibe, but I'm partial to the latter day, "influence, not control" school of thought.

Quote from: Opaopajr;530372Did I get it right?

Pretty much, yeah.

Quote from: Opaopajr;530372Sounds familiar to what I usually do with IN, except some of the names change (seneschals, tethers, etc.). The importance of sires and PC placement stands out though. That might be a challenge. Otherwise I like it, very loose and light. Plenty of space for players to stretch out and create their own adventures.

I never played, let alone run, IN or its French predecessor, but I suppose it stands to reason that most urban fantasy games work on similar general principles. I can attest that the formula I've outlined above works fine for all WoD (old or new) games I've ran.

I like keeping things loose and light, the better to give PCs room to grow and carev out terrain of their own. Being a neonate in a big city, with a lot of the territory and mortal power structure already more or less staked out between elders, can suck real hard.

Quote from: Opaopajr;530372FYI, the prime sect movers and shakers are Brujah, Lasombra, Nosferatu (with thaumaturgy!), and Toreador. Assamites, Followers of Set, and "Laibon" (Akunanse? Ishtarri? Guruhi?) would be relatively prominent as well. Gangrel and Devil Tigers or Thrashing Dragons (kuei-jin) will likely make a visitation. Cappadocian, Ravnos, and Malkvanians would be present, but rarer walk-ons. (An ultra rare El Hijazi Ventrue might be in the wings with a Salubri or Baali, but almost never seen.)

I'm thinking of a Nosferatu as sultan and another Nosferatu as imam. In a way having a major banking hub based on faith -- leading to lots of secrecy -- is absolutely brilliant for their needs. However, the Arabian peninsula is also the home of the devout Hajji Nosferatu, who'd be a check upon this power. They'd also be there to keep the Ka'ba safe.

I imagine that, like Los Angeles and San Francisco in the oWoD, Kindred and Kuei-jin would be warring for influence and huntng grounds. However, given the secularly well-entrenched Ashirra hierarchy of Near Eastern Kindred, the battle would be much more pitched than in the West Coast, possibly with the Kuei-jin resorting to a more underhanded approach.

Quote from: The Butcher;530341While Benoist prepares what will probably be an epic thread in the same vein as the now classic megadungeon thread, I'll throw in my Resources too.

I'd like to do something like this. Later probably.

I think your advice is sound.

What I do when I start designing a by Night is read about the City itself. All I can find about its geography, history, monuments, places of note, people who were important for one reason or another, why, and so on. Arm yourself with a notebook, read about Dubai on wikipedia and let yourself bounce from article to article. Write down everything you'd like to use in your by Night: a character that could be an NPC, a place of note or monument that could be Elysium, events in history that could have had a link to the vampires' Jyhad, or mirror events in the shadows, etc.

All sources are welcome. What works great too is to get a bunch of touristic city guides in addition to all the parallel research you're going to do: these books are great to get a feel of the landscape, spot some locations that wouldn't necessarily appear in general encyclopedia articles, get to know some social places, hotels and restaurants, nightclubs and the like. The idea here is to select a number of elements that link your Vampire version to the real Dubai in a way that sustains the suspension of disbelief the game provides.

We don't want everything to be a place of note, or every NPC to have been a historical person, for the same reason of suspension of disbelief, but some of these people help make the place feel special, feel like "this is Dubai, and it couldn't be anywhere else".

Alright. From there, you have a bunch of places, NPCs, an idea of the history of the place that makes you want to run a game in it.

Then start thinking about the Vampire side of things. The Ashirra have a history, they don't come out of nowhere. They subsist in part because of deals they made with the Camarilla. What deals are those? You decide. What does that mean for Dubai? Is there an watcher for the Camarilla in town that holds some measure of power, a big like an ambassador does and is sort of "no touching this guy, he's important to the Sultan"? If so, what is the Camarilla doing in town?

How is the Sabbat trying to make the city fall? What packs are in town? Which coteries are they moles in, if any? And so on.

Are there Anarchs in the city? Coteries that contest the Sultan's power? Maybe some moderate muslims who want a more liberal rule and stop the stagnation of the Asharri? Maybe some hardline extremists who would be no better than the Sultan if they were in power too?

Is the Sultan a weak, or a strong leader? Why is he weak/strong? Generally, signs of weakness are better, because it shows to the players they can tip the balance of power one way or the other. It provides "drama", stuff happens, conflicts occur, and conflicts are the stuff that make a by Night tick over the long run: the PCs ally themselves with some NPCs, manipulate others, kill others too, which leave vacuums which vampires in the city then try to fill, which creates new sources of conflicts, and on and on it goes.

Which clans are more prominent in the city? Why? What happened in the past that led to this present situation?

From different historical periods, different ideologies or "sides" that existed throughout the history of Dubai, you will start to see some groups of vampires that may still exist which are built around these ideas that survived in unlife. In Paris by Night, for instance, there are two groups of Anarchs/Autarkis, basically: Les Insurgés, which are revolutionaries led by Auguste Blanqui who want to take down the power of the Prince and his Paires (the Primogen of Paris), reminiscent of the Commune in 1871 and the anarchist terrorism of the end of the century, and les Indulgents which are moderates who have joined the Prince to change the power structure from the inside, and are thus traitors to les Insurgés. The Revolution of 1789 was a botched attempt to control the situation on the part of the Ventrue and Toreador when various non-vampire factions took over the city behind the scenes. Robespierre was embraced for that purpose, but it backlashed big time, triggering the Terror. Robespierre is still active today in the 2000 years, but he embodies the establishment, the conservative power of the Ventrue, not the revolutionary ideas one would assume (it's also great to use historical figures and the like and actually surprise your players like this: it makes the vampire setting feel actually more real if you don't abuse it and try to do it all the time. Be unpredictible and believable I guess is the idea here).

Try to start and come up with the power structure of the city: who is the Prince/Sultan? Who are the Elders, the Primogen, and why are these individuals in this position of power? What are the real leaders in the city? What resources do they control? How? And so on. From that structure of power a lot of stuff derives: who are the opponents, who are the people who don't care one way or the other? How does the Sultan remain in power? Who are his allies/enemies, his domains, his zones of influence, etc? Who controls what and why?

You'll start seeing the different forces at play, the coteries, the factions, who's in power, who controls what, and so on.

Then start assigning refuges and meeting places to these different groups and factions. Where do they meet? What are their domains? Where does the court meet? What are the rules of the Sultan? And so on.

Consider that vampires are secretive and manipulative creatures. Add conspiracies and secrets to the whole thing. Some known facts are wrong, or are just manufactured lies. Some NPCs have different allegiances than one knows publicly. There are spies, ancients buried deep under the city that would destroy the young if they were to ever wake, a previous Prince who's murderer is in a position of power today, the greatest Primogen at the Sultan's side is blood bond to the leader of the Tremere Chantry, the Nosferatu are blackmailed by the Sabbat pack, etc. Create a web of stuff that players will have fun uncovering. This should be stuff the PCs will be able to find out and leverage to their own benefits, but it should be dangerous. Shaking the shit with a stick almost invariably makes it hit the fan. The PCs should strategize, get to know their environment, the forces in presence, and know what they want to accomplish. It's like a giant chess game played with masters and thralls, sects and coteries, domains and refuges, secrets and lies which when uncovered are threatening the careful balance of power in the City, and the PCs are the pebbles that make the whole thing shake on its fundations.

All this stuff adds up bit by bit and it'll take shape until that point where you'll feel it's playable.

Then you just let the players create newcomers to the city. The first game session, they just show up for the first time in the city and seek to present themselves to the Sultan of the domain. And you run the thing from there. You let them act on whatever objectives they set out for themselves, whether that's creating a domain, get to know the real secrets of the city, enacting some revenge on this or that faction of the city... let them do their thing, and enjoy the sparks from there. You're in for a wild ride.

Nasnas baby, nasnas.

Why not do both a Dark Ages and a Modern version of the Dubai? The Dark Ages version could set the stage for long reaching plans whose fruition comes in the Modern setting. I would think that Vampires would make long term plans that go beyond a normal human life span.

OMG, I have a lot to read now. However the wiki alone has been pretty sweet in brainstorming ideas. I think I'll need to listen to Benoist and buy a separate notebook because I see a lot of notes in the future...

Quote from: jeff37923;530489Why not do both a Dark Ages and a Modern version of the Dubai? The Dark Ages version could set the stage for long reaching plans whose fruition comes in the Modern setting. I would think that Vampires would make long term plans that go beyond a normal human life span.

Y'know, that's a great idea. But the catch is Dubai, though mentioned before (all the way back to 1060s), really has been a backwater until 1970s. Basically it had a smattering of people and by the turn of the 20th century (1900) was only 10,000 people. Considering it was only 1,000 a hundred years earlier (1822 had 1,200 people), it's gonna be a hard sell.

But that gets back to regional setting, and there's plenty of cities to work on for that. So yeah, it's a good idea. Basically for just Dubai it'll be a local vampire who watched over his flock of pearl divers and suddenly is now faced with a huge windfall (or is benefitting in the wake of a recently awoken methuselah). Fun stuff to toy with.

Here's how I'd go about the political situation itself (I know Vampire only so - so, so not giving any clan/mechanics suggestions etc. etc.)

First, as you noted - you have a city that suddenly exploded in the last 40 years. There was probably one looser vampire in there - and suddenly, bam. Now the guy/gal from zero went to a Sultan of a very powerful city. You should play the nouveau riche factor to the max. Fountains of blood, harem of ghouls - let your imagination go rampant. Perhaps Sultan controls the actual Sultan - perhaps it's him that discovered the oil? Possibilities are endless. The Sultan'd probably also go on a rampage of creating offspring - not just because he can, but also because he needs loyal vampires to watch his back because of all the new ones coming in.

After all - you have a big city in middle of nowhere. City where police and press hushes out all the bad things that happen, because the reputation of Dubai can't go harmed. Combine that with a very prominent night lifestyle... What better place for the bloodsuckers to go hunting?

And here in fact comes another thing - all the vampires who couldn't just cut it in other cities? All the politically bankrupt ones, all the incompetent ones? They'd be coming here, because everything's much easier here, due to the political and economical climate. And with plenty of half - done buildings, those losers who just turned kings will have plenty of places to set their crypts up, etc. etc. Of course, there'd be also coming some of those, who will be just the normal, cunning ones - but IMO you should go for the factor of Dubai being, simply spoken, overvampired - as I had said, it's just too easy to prey here. And of course, with that goes another problem - since Dubai's turning into shitter, Sultan is starting to get a bit worried. If/When Dubai By Day falls...what to do with all those bloody vampiric immigrants?

And of course - you also have the slave farms outside of city. That's where the vampiric dredges'd go hunting, the scum of vampires (and/or Anarchists, perhaps?) - you can have a few rogue vampires preying on the slaves. Perhaps they live in the barracks - or perhaps they live in holes in the ground. It's desert everywhere around - just run a few miles, dig a hole for the day, and you are set. And it'd probably not even be needed - there are bound to be some abandoned barracks.

So, there you'd have it. A vampiric lord who suddenly became an actual lord rather then ruler of a craphouse, beset on every step by all those big organisations (The Arabian Vampires, the European/American vampires, etc. etc.), and all of them trying to carve out the biggest slice of the cake, while trying to limit the flow of the dozens of no - good vampiric scum, who felt the smell of easy life here.

Back. Took awhile. Forgive the necropost.

I'm going to deal with NPCs first, as they're the moving chess pieces that make the game interesting. In a later post I'll start fleshing out the board. In this post I will lay out Kindred demographics by continent > country > clan > sect, then who fills Ashirra power structure, finally any current connecting links between NPCs. I'm keeping things to mere blurbs if I can; the more open-ended my NPCs characterization the more flexible they can be upon contact with PCs.

Here's my demographics for the city:

Dubai = 30 vampires. 10 slots remain open for PCs and future NPCs. Remaining 20 slots split as 6 African, 6 Asian, 5 Middle Eastern, & 3 Western Europe/American.

Africa: 2 Ethiopian Laibons - Ishtarri, Akunanse; 1 Mozambican - Nosferatu Ashirra; 2 Somalians - Assamite Laibon, Toreador Ashirra; 1 Sudanese - Osebo Laibon

Asia: 1 Filipino - Thrashing Dragon Kuei Jin; 1 India - Cappadocian Ashirra; 2 Malay - Thrashing Dragon Kuei Jin, Malkavian Ashirra; 2 Pakistani Ashirra - Brujah, Ravnos

Europe/America: 2 Yanks - Brujah Anarch, Nosferatu Camarilla; 1 Brit - Toreador Camarilla

Middle East: All Ashirra. 1 Irani - Assamite; 1 Qatari - Assamite; 1 Saudi - Brujah; 2 Emirati - Nosferatu, Toreador


Ashirra Power Structure:

Sultan (secular power): UAE Toreador Ashirra

Imam (spiritual power): UAE Nosferatu Ashirra (recently abdicated sultan title once elder Tor awoke)

Mullah/ 'ulama (scholars): Saudi Brujah - Sunni; Irani Assamite - Shi'a

Qadi (judge): Indian Cappadocian and/or Mozambican Nosferatu

'udul (legal witness/notary): Qatari Assamite


Current connections:

Malay Malk has been stalking Malay Dragon for years across SE Asia, speaking prophecy of a coming doorway. Malay Dragon ends up in Dubai and comes across a recently deceased Filipino chiu meh needing of 'righteous demon straightening'. Malay Malk is starting to notice there seems to be more than one Dragon's steps. Has the Kuei Jin limit expanded through Western Asia first? Can the Malkavian communicate this development in time before the Malay Dragon tells other Kuei Jin back home?

Toreador Anarch is an IT contractor installing and operating equipment in new hotels and apartments. Still resents the Camarilla presence in the city. Helps Ashirra technologically to keep tabs on Camarilla in city.

Nosferatu Camarilla has been sent to assist in USA gov't espionage. Works as gov't contractor; doubles as Camarilla snoop as well. Sadly, just like his American counterparts, he relies too much on high tech and not enough on knowing the language or local customs.

Toreador Camarilla, an architecture aesthete. Dubai is the new nexus of architectural wonders. To be anywhere else is to miss out on the cutting edge.

Indian Cappadocian, recently awoke and mildly upset his clan is being/has been hunted away. Decided to find shelter amid a stronger economic community, to avoid reach of Giovanni. That and the amount of dying immigrant labor helps his studies.

UAE Toreador, was once a Christian following in the footsteps of the renowned (and now fabled) Hatim al Tai, famous for his generosity. Awed by the profound questions asked by the beautiful daughter Husn Banu (actually a Salubri), this is the "other prince" that sought around the world to answer her questions. It was Hatim al Tai who answered them through his virtue. From this reverie to soon after witnessing the Prophet Mohammed, UAE Toreador walks the Path of Heaven as a form of chasing the ultimate beauty. Went to sleep leaving a Nosferatu to preserve this community of pearl divers. Recently awoke and has taken upon the task to help the local humans build something beautiful now they have a huge windfall in oil wealth.

UAE Nosferatu, once embraced wandered the marshes and fens between Basra, Iraq to the pearl diver shores of Dubai. Surprisingly merciful, but very sad being outcast due to deformity. Was stunned when UAE Toreador saw him rescuing beached shellfish before the morning light and declared him beautiful. From that he converted to Islam and saw virtue as a means to be re-embraced into community... and to be seen as beautiful still. Protected this coastal community from aggressive attention for generations. Once UAE Toreador re-awoke, abdicated Sultan seat for Imam position.

Who's the absolute oldest vampire in town today?

Most likely the current sultan, UAE Toreador Ashirra. Actually it would be very close between the sultan, the Indian Cappadocian Ashirra, and the Somali Assamite Laibon (aka Shango), as all three would have been embraced before the Prophet Mohammed and have heard of or seen Rome at its fall. But if exacting time records were kept the Toreador would edge the others out, by around 50~100 years