I like the fact that you're taking your time to hammer away the details. Worlds are the most enjoyable to play in when they're detailed. I just so happen to be very good at making worlds! If you need need help with making the human society and all the 'normal' stuff to add more background, feel free to hire me for the low price of nothing! ;)

I'm with @Whoami, it's good to know you're taking your time. It's a well-thought out RP, kinda what I wanted to go for if I wrote an urban-fantasy. Bringing vampires back to their folkloric "monster" roots. And yeah, if you need any help or what any opinions, just hit us up. It's what we're here for.

As far as mundane society goes I'm working on a pessimistic take on many of FutureTimeline.net's predictions, with the main focus being that:
Humanity has not curbed its appetites in the face of radical climate change and ecological damage
Humanity refuses to enter into a more enlightened age, with individual lives being valued less than ever before
Humanity's reach has exceeded its grasp as a technological bloat fans the flames of consumerism

*Designer babies for the wealthy meaning that the division between rich and poor has never been as great as it is now. It's full blown Gattica in this regard, with naturals feeling the crunch of a glass ceiling that drops a few inches every year.

*While there's no 'silver-bullet' for aging the key factors at work have been identified. With major advances in the use of stem cells, gene therapy, nanotechnology and other techniques a so-called actuarial escape velocity has been reached where the wealthy can extend their live by more than twelve months every year. (For all intents and purposes getting younger each year.) This means that the highest paying, most desirable positions in society never become available for the newer generation outside of accidental death or injury, as one can imagine this had made the business world all the more cut-throat.

*The US has collapsed under the weight of its national deficit and a 'death by a thousand cuts' brand of cyberterrorism. During this period of depression Canada stepped in to provide international aid. The growing concern is that Canada seems unwilling to 'step-out', policing the former super-power by way of naturalized refugees the U.S. had been unwilling to open their borders to years prior.

Being Canadian, I find it hilarious that we managed to replace the US xD

Kudos for not forgetting about the north and our unstoppable moose cavalry!

Wow, I wish I could set alerts for a certain thread. I never saw this updating! Can't wait to read all the new information.

Also, I saw something about Canada. 'NADA \(^_^)/

Alright, all caught up. [@BeachBurrito] I'm intrigued by the idea that potions are addictive. Would these simply be potions that don't kill in one dose, or can be modified, or is there more to it?

Think of it like all those commercials for different medications they have on TV, where listing the potentially fatal side effects takes nearly three minutes. Potions are like that, except now you're using bits of mystical flora as well as modern chemistry. Drinking them will always kill you--the difference between a good potion maker and a bad one is getting them to do it softly.

For young vamps death isn't much of a deterrent, so they oftentimes get hooked early and have to deal with the increasingly torturous wraithburn of their decision.

Unfortunately, I haven't quite read through every single page of this interest check, so I can't offer any further dicussion topics (yet), but I wanted to commend you on such an innovative take on vampires. I look forward to watching you unveil the rest of this setting's secrets.

Consider my participation a guarantee.

So I'm still unclear on how our characters can become vampires in the first place: Were they born that way? Bitten? Turned in some other strange way?

Also, I'm currently looking at the potion thing the way I look at hardcore drugs like meth or heroin. It very easily CAN kill you if you don't do it right, overdose, or are just lucky. Very, very dangerous habit, and if you die, you stay down. Yes?

@Beach Burrito

@Obscene Symphony - Basically the Vampire's Curse snowballed its way from a handful of deserving individuals. The story varies depending on who you ask but the main point is these progenitors passed it on through the ages via their descendants. You'd of been born a Dhampir thanks to an Alp or Draug knocking your mortal mother up, the same goes for your sire. All vampires start as Dhampir--it just means that the curse hasn't fully matured yet. Live long enough and curse worms into you little by little until one day you either tear out of your skin as a Draug, stare at a stranger in the mirror as an Alp or look down at your rotted remains as a Vetala. Dhampir are known as Sixth-House vampires (a hold over from before the Fourth and Fifth bloodlines withered away) and there are many sayings associated with it.

Potions will always kill you. Always. It's not even about overdosing. The changes they do to your body (read: intended effects) are fatally damaging. That doesn't really matter much to a vampire, since as long as it doesn't outright destroy the heart or head you'll just get up again. Younger, less powerful vampires often use them as a leg-up on their older and more experienced peers, since the only drawback worth mentioning is wraithburn. Unfortunately Wraithburn intensifies as one grows ever more ancient, leading the unwary into a life-shattering cycle of addiction.

Perfect! Sounds great. Thank you very much!

So I'm beating the Crafts into a shape I'm halfway satisfied with. It was essential that they adhere to a structure that's simple to understand and work with without being either too limiting or overly generous. To this end I divided them into three categories:

Dictums, which effect the physical world. Or more precisely how the rules which govern it apply to you. For instance you can't break the rule of gravity but you -may- convince it that down is the last place your feet fell or to treat you as being lighter than it ought to. You can't make yourself any faster but you -could- move the same speed over a shorter period of time. etc.

Veers, which extend their reach through the Nearafter, bestowing properties from the other side onto the user. I have to hash out what those may be a bit more for this to be worthwhile (I'm on it as we speak) As an example of this going both ways Poltergeists use Veers to interact with physical objects. Vetala are a special case worth mentioning, in that they're able to reach -both- ways, bestowing themselves with mundane or otherworldly properties.

Kens, which are essential to observing, understanding, sensing, speaking with or otherwise doing anything short of smacking the forces of the Wider world (Read: Where the dead go) Kens can be very powerful for the insight they provide.

Crafts won't let you:
*Overcome any of the universal vulnerabilities (Sunlight/Destruction of the Head or Heart etc)
*Directly effect anything other than yourself (So no fireballs or magic missiles)
*Will them on and off. They're 24/7 commitments.

Here's a little flavor text I jotted down (I'd go more in depth but it went from late night to early morning and I need to find a pillow stat)

Dictums - The Waking world is one of law and matter sharply defined by interactions between the two. Whilst you cannot exempt yourself from the prevailing rules which govern the world around you it is through the use of Dictums one might skew the manner in which they apply.

Veers - The Nearafter is not so much a border or barrier between this world and the next as it is an amalgamation of the two. It is through this ill defined gulf that denizens from one realm pass into the other and the cycle of life and death, collapse and expansion continues. So too is it through the use of Veers that one might draw against this current and impose upon the mundane the otherworldly or otherworldly the mundane.

Kens - The Wider world is intense and formless, a place of power and echos. It is a madness unmolested by time which all things, Gods, men and Greater-thans pass into. It obliterates and renews, forging new life from old. Kens are essential to orienteering this alien dreamscape and girding against its strange perils.

Alright, so I've been sleeping on it and I think it's safe to say that the Wider world is quite literally where your mind wanders when you go to sleep. Dying allows you to dream unfettered and gradually pass deeper and deeper from your ties to reality--like a vision quest where the goal is the attainment of truth and annihilation of self (Returning to your pure, formless state so that you may be reborn) The living can sometime bridge this gap (trances, comas, etc) just as the dead may sometimes intrude upon us via possession or hauntings. As such Kens can be used to do a few things:

*Obfuscate oneself as a means of protection or subterfuge, in the Wider world to know something is to hold power over it. As an example:

The Totem: Shamanism is not usually the realm of the vampire, cursed as they are they rank rather low in the cosmic hierarchy. Be that as it may the Totem grants its bearer the ability to commune with spirits as an equal, molding their reflection in the likeness of a powerful totemic being. As in all dealings with the otherworldly it pays to be wary, lest an impostor draw too much attention to themselves.

*Navigate the insanity that will surround you in this shared dream. The notions of the waking world are but phantoms here, shadows of your own making--those that walk the wider world are unhindered by them. Through the use of Kens you may become like a dreamling and break these self imposed tethers.

*Fathom the truths and riddles that are found here, and in so doing become armed. In the Wider world knowing something is to have power over it, those that would remain free gird themselves in kennings and knots of riddle. To think a thing bare and know it clearly is to defeat it.

etc. Basically Kens only come into play when you're trying to make contact with the Wider world, entering into a deep trance (Or better yet slipping into a deathly coma by way of a potion) Here you can speak with the dead or other dreamlings, try to make sense of the memories that cluttered on the other side or interact with sites/objects of power. Magic itself stems from the Wider world and as such many relics cannot be activated from outside of it.

Also, a note on all Crafts (Kens, Veers and Dictums) while you shape them via mirrors and ritual you must pin them in place with symbolic tattoos.

Veers are next, and I'll have the list of common Crafts you're likely to encounter up soon.

A random thought:

What say you interested folk in the ability to harvest scrolls from defeated vampires? Essentially this would be carving out one of their tattoos (Read: One of their crafts/A chunk of their true self) and later burning it as a sort of temporary effect (Maybe lasting only the time it takes for the fire to completely consume it?) Either that or they could slap them on like temporary tattoos and have them fade away, getting weaker and weaker with use.

Thoughts? I want there to be a good reason for non-humans to stalk vamps. I'm thinking making them the only source of scrolls might fit.

I like the idea of the scroll-harvesting - I'm not sure how the setting's society feels about vampires as a whole, but I'm sure there are always going to be the sorts that despise them. Being able to temporarily "steal" their powers would serve as an addrd incentive.

The setting is Earth: 2070. No reasonable human being believes in vampires. All those B-movies and trashy romance novels really did wonders for vamps in that regard. Nowadays any supernatural feats they might be seen/filmed doing are easier to attribute to something else. (Black market cyberware, hyper-PCP, illegal gene-mods etc.) Too many agendas and conspiracies discrediting the supernatural for any but those behind them to believe in vamps.

So do you think there's enough world information so far to merit a temporary CS skeleton? I'd like to get started on shaping my character. Patience has never been a virtue of mine, haha.

I fully intend to throw an overly daunting OOC when I'm happy with it, including a trimmed down "Things you absolutely must know" section. It'll stand as a reference for skimming over when needed. As a bonus I fully intend to PM certain explanations and knowledge to only those that have made character that 'should' know it. This is so they can more expertly betray each other, should they desire.

Here's a little tidbit though to tide you over. The way illusions work is simple/horrible. Just as there exists no true absolute boundary between say, a desk and the floor once one goes down to a small enough scale so too is there no true absolute boundary between one mind and another. The illusionist diffuses their consciousness into the immediate area, fraying it into wispy little bits that invade the subconscious of those around them. So the illusionist and their victims share the same, often dangerous delusion. Skilled practitioners need to 'remember' where things were, this is how they trick people into walking into traffic and keep from bumping into things themselves. To do this most make use of clever heuristics or only slightly alter this skewed perception. This can be dangerous as the longer an illusion is sustained the more of one's mind 'thins' as a result, eventually leading to complete bodily failure and death as your mind simply stops regulating all those little things your body does 'without thinking about it'. Illusions effect an area that starts small and steadily grows, effecting all beings inside of this zone. Animals hate this. Illusions also have momentum, and effecting too many minds too quickly causes you to 'slip', losing control of it (And of course, bodily failure and death as above.) Older minds have more weight, as such older illusionists are more powerful and older 'anythings' much harder to deceive.

@Beach Burrito

Long time no see, hmm? I'll be throwing my hat into the ring. Give me a moment to catch up on the posts, and we'll see if I can't think of a topic to discuss.

Some notes on time and fate:

In the waking world time 'flows' forwards much like a stream and all are swept along by its current. For those at its mercy there is no way to stand still or move against the inexorable forward momentum that time exerts. Likewise, if the waking world is a stream the wider world is the ocean from which it springs and to which it empties. Past, present and future converge and become meaningless there*, trifling things that only serve to hinder one's rebirth.

Dream deeply and one might glean fragments of their future, shapes and madness in the shadow of one's mind. To the uninitiated such is Deja vu, the sudden subconscious fathoming that for an instant future and foreknowledge have intersected. Often the pursuit of such prophetic dreams becomes obsession and a fate one sought too avoid is revealed to be a result of the very actions taken to avert it.

Vampires are a special case. Cut off from the cycle of death and rebirth they have no link to the wider world**--nor any past, present or future to be found there. To cheat this those wishing to prognosticate their future must either seek out a mortal to whom they are in some way connected and stalk their eidolon**, read the omens through a mancy*** or petition a spirit directly.

Using this knowledge creates an obstruction as events change and fate flows around it, like dropping a stone into a stream.

* (Eternity is quite literally the horrible mess caused as past, present and future permeate each other)
** (An eidolon, the future-shadow cast by one's own dead self. Time is simultaneous within the wider world, so every living person that was or will be born is already dead there. It is taboo to contact one's deceased soul directly--and extremely dangerous)
*** A mancy is any school of divination (umbilicomancy, trochomancy, splanchnomancy, etc, etc, etc.) used to make an educated guess at the future. Vampires gain these through the use of veers, reaching across the near and broadening their awareness. (Omens, being supernatural in nature are as plain for spirits to read as a book would be to you or me.)