That said, let's move onto our first user submitted story where we approach a dark world filled with subhuman parasites, and terrifying creatures of darkness. And vampires.
All of the vampires. |
When playing old-world Vampire: The
Masquerade, certain powers are very important to the survival of
sneaky characters. Obfuscate is arguably the most important of all of
those, as it is essentially the World of Darkness version of
invisibility. What happens, though, when your character is in a dire
situation and DOESN’T have it? This is my story.
I was a newbie live-action player, but
a couple of years of table-top experience under my belt and years of
on-stage experience in theatre had gotten the ST to trust me with one
of his antagonist characters- a character whose sole purpose was to
cause mayhem in the player-driven plots of the Vampire LARP scene. My
character was a human masquerading as a vampire in order to destroy
their society from within. She had several supernatural abilities
(mostly psychic-type stuff), but most of this character’s ability
to hide in vampire society was based on the wit and quick thinking of
the player behind her. Like any over-enthusiastic newbie, I told one
of my good friends ALL about the awesome character I was playing. He
got it into his head that he wanted to create a character to connect
with mine, and thus the plotting began.
Game night: the LARP has the run of
the ST’s whole house and yard. The yard has a creek running through
it and it borders on a cemetery, so it was ultra cool. The house had
two levels. The lower level featured a spacious living room, a
centrally located staircase, and on the other side a dining room that
was set up with refreshments for the players. In particular, there
was a punch bowl filled with “blood” for the vampires to partake
in. With my character not actually being a vampire, I naturally
avoided the dining area like the plague, sticking mostly to the more
social living room.
I got cornered by my friend, who
graciously insisted on getting me a cup of the refreshments being
offered. As he turned his back to go get me the punch, I nearly
panicked. I couldn’t drink it, and if I didn’t, I was totally
caught. I had no stealth skills on my sheet, let alone the coveted
Obfuscate ability. Then I looked up and noticed the staircase. And my
friend’s back towards it.
Without thinking too hard, I stood up
and dashed towards the staircase, getting very close to the friend
(busily filling cups of punch at the bowl) as I positively flew up
the staircase, trying to move as quietly as a young woman in high
heels possibly can. I reached the upstairs, ducked into a bathroom,
and stood there with my heart thundering in my ears for a few moments
waiting to be caught. Seconds passed. Minutes passed. Holy shit! I
had pulled it off! I did eventually have to leave the upstairs, but
all things considered, I had managed somehow to save my own can
through my own abilities, not powers or numbers on my character
sheet.
I was later told that he had turned
around and thought that somehow I had actually learned obfuscate, as
there was no possible way I could have gotten out of that room. I
couldn’t help but gloat over my own ingenuity, but I can honestly
say that character never actually got caught, and caused a
considerable amount of mayhem while the game lasted.
Kat stepped forward to share a story of a truly memorable night at one of her games... how about you? What slick trick do you have to brag about pulling off? Let us know by dropping comments or contacting us. If you want to stay updated on all of the doings both here and on the Literary Mercenary, then drop by Facebook or Tumblr and become a follower! As always, thanks for stopping by!
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