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Adashari: Chessmen (Update)

If you haven’t seen my Mekhet custom bloodline, you can check out the Chessmen here.

As a response to both fallentyrant and trekhead ‘s sage wisdom, I’ve adjusted the "On the Board" mechanic thusly:

Devotion: On the Board 
Requirements: Aspex 2, Dominate 2, Obfuscate 2
The Chessmen pepper their language with game metaphors such as “stalemate,” “behind the eight ball,” and “captured pieces,” The most common reference is “on the board.” While kindred scholars have written many opinions about what this phrase actually means, no-one is entirely certain.

In game terms, the Adashari may spend a Willpower Point to be considered "on the board" for the evening (the effect dies at dawn). The benefit of being on the board gives the Chessman "9 again" on any draws involving Allies and Contacts, reflecting the ease with which the Adashari manipulates his pawns. 

However, the Adashari also suffers a penalty for being on the board. Putting himself directly into the Great Game, he puts himself tremendous risk as "10 agains" pulled against him are not limited to only two draws.

*EDIT*
An Adashari must decide if he is on the board before the game begins. He may not activate this Devotion during the game.

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Maybe I’m Getting Soft…

“I’m far less interested in what people believe than I am in why they believe it.”

I think my time in AZ has softened me a bit. Maybe made me a little less cynical, a little less… nah. Those are negative words and I’m about to talk about friends, so I should be as fair as I can.

I saw Gay Meme Thing this morning while I was answering calls at work. I didn’t really think twice about it. Someone asked me, “Do you believe in gay rights?” and I said, “Yes.” I believe in being open and honest about the things you believe in. I believe in wearing my heart on my sleeve. So, naturally, someone asks me if I believe in gay rights, I say yes.

And then, an hour or so later, I saw the response. Like I said, I didn’t really give it a second thought, but others saw the meme as an “us or them” thing. Divide and conquer. Looking back now, I can understand that point-of-view. That’s not how I saw it, but I understand how someone else might.

I don’t second-guess the originators of the meme. I assume they wrote it with the same intention I read into it. “Honk if you heart queers.” I heart everyone, so it wasn’t a big deal for me.

Now, I do know–for a fact–that people on my Friends List won’t post it because they don’t believe in the equal rights gays are looking for. While I respect and love my friends, I do not respect that opinion. I think it’s wrong and I have reasons for thinking it’s wrong. They have reasons for thinking it’s right. And we both have language to discuss our differences.

I guess what I’m saying is this. I respect the intent of asking people to say, “We think this is right.” At the same time, I understand why people saw the question as a divisive measure.

So, instead, I ask this. “Why don’t you believe in gay rights? Let’s sit down and talk about it. I might convince you otherwise and I’m open to the option that I might be wrong.”

An invitation to conversation, I think, is an approach I prefer.

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Gay Rights

Why is that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?” -Ernest Gaines

We would like to know who really believes in gay rights on livejournal. There is no bribe of a miracle or anything like that. If you truly believe in gay rights, then repost this and title the post as “Gay Rights.” If you don’t believe in gay rights, then just ignore this. Thanks.

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.

Also, please read this.

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Houses of the Blooded: Pre-Orders Go Live May 5

The book will be 6″x9″. Two different covers (different styles for both standard softcover and limited hardcover). All purchases receive a free .pdf version of the game.

Standard Edition
Paperback edition
6″x9″
PDF of the book e-mailed to you

Limited Edition (Limited to 100 print run!)
Hardcover edition
6″x9″
Unique cover design/color with dust jacket

Limited Edition includes a Bonus CD:

Blood Opera: Romance and Revenge from the Ven Stage
Over 1 hour of music!

HotB PDF Reference Pack
PDF of the book
8″x11″ character sheets, reference sheets and other goodies

HotB Graphics Pack
Everything you need to build your own HotB supplement!*
InDesign templates
Graphic Elements
Ven “Rune Font”
(* Except body and header fonts; colophon included)

The Graphics Pack is what excites me the most. I’ll be opening up a page at HotB.com for folks to upload their own houserules, NPCs, adventures, sourcebooks. And there’s a plan for making those “peer reviewed research.” Yeah, that means official canon. And yeah, that means you can sell it.

More on that later. Spread the word.

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Adashiri: Chessmen (A Mekhet Bloodline)

Every once in a while, I get an itch I’ve just got to scratch. A little while ago, I had an idea that really just came out of the question "Are there any Mekhet bloodlines with Dominate?"

I asked the question, looked at the answers, and didn’t see anything that fit the character I was thinking about. So, I made one up myself.

The Chessmen

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So, I’m Reading the New Ventrue Book…

… and I have a question.

The new Bloodline has a rather… interesting disadvantage. They have to spend blood instead of Willpower to make their Disciplines work.

(double-take)

Wait. Wait a second. How is that a weakness? Because I’ve suddenly got a whole fridge full of Willpower points. And see that guy over there? He’s just waiting for me to suck all his willpower out of him.

I don’t understand how this is a weakness.