Character Sheets

[Corwin]

Bruce de Winter, 27, Lasombra
Nature: Director
Demeanor: Visionary

                                                   Attributes

Physical                                         Social                                         Mental
Strength: **                                  Charisma: ***                              Perception: *
Dexterity: ***                                Manipulation: ***** (Persuasive)    Intelligence: **** (Analytical)
Stamina: *                                     Appearance: **                            Wits: ***


                                                   Abilities

Talents                                         Skills                                            Knowledges
Alertness: *                                   Animal Ken:                                   Academics: *
Athletics:                                      Crafts:                                         Computer: **
Brawl:                                           Drive: *                                        Finance: **
Dodge: *                                       Etiquette: *                                  Investigation:
Empathy: **                                  Firearms: *                                    Law: *
Expression: ***                              Melee:                                          Linguistics:
Intimidation: *                                Performance: *                              Medicine:
Leadership: **** (Oratory)              Security:                                      Occult:
Streetwise: *                                  Stealth: *                                     Politics: **
Subterfuge: ***                              Survival:                                       Science: *


                                                   Advantages

Disciplines                                      Backgrounds                                  Virtues
Dominate: ***                               Allies:                                           Conscience: **
Presence: *                                   Contacts:                                      Self-Control: ****
                                                   Fame:                                           Courage: ****
                                                   Generation: ***
                                                   Herd:
                                                   Influence:
                                                   Mentor: **
                                                   Resources: ***
                                                   Retainers:
                                                   Status:

Merits and Flaws                             Path of Humanity                             Health
Eidetic Memory (2)                          Humanity: ****** (6)                      0,-1,-1,-2,-2,-5,Incapacitated
Vengeful (-2)                                 Willpower: ******* (7) [7/7]         
Natural Leader (1)                                                                               
Dark Secret (-1)                             Blood Pool
Enemy (-1)                                    13 total, 1 per turn                          Weakness
Ward (-3)                                                                                          Cannot be seen in mirrors or
True Love (4)                                                                                     other reflective surfaces


XP: 1/8
XP spent:
3: Streetwise *
4: Subterfuge **->***


-One bad event from their past.

One night, Bruce was awoken by his mother. Still disoriented and in his pajamas, he followed her as she tugged painfully on his arm and half-dragged his sleepy, resisting form into his large closet. Closing the door with more than the necessary amount of force, she pressed her index finger to her lips but whatever she seemed about to say next got lost as air rushed out of her lungs due to a sudden blow to her side. Now fully awake, in the grip of terror, Bruce was forced to watch as his mother was slammed against the closet with enough strength to make the wood creek. She cried out in such terror and pain he froze, barely able to breathe, and then something started flowing through the crack under the door, something sticky that clung to Bruce's feet and he felt the urge to wretch. His mother's cries were getting feebler and feebler, until they were no more than gasps. Trembling, Bruce chanced a look through the lock for the closet doors, and only then did he realize what was happening.

To this day, Bruce can't tell why the assailants left him alone, standing in the darkened closet half an inch deep into his mother's blood for hours until a policeman discovered him there, muttering about monsters.


-One thing they have always wanted.

Strange as it might be, Bruce was not one of those people who only realized what they had when they lost it. Some might have called him lucky for having experienced a good, fulfilling childhood with a family that loved him and was loved in return, but ever since the fateful day he lost his parents, the aunt on his father's side that was staying with them for the holidays and his little sister, Bruce had always wanted to recapture that same warmth again. Knowing that it was impossible made little else in life matter. Ever since that day his family was murdered, Bruce had felt like he had died alongside them.


-One good event from their past.

Though he may not show it, Bruce feels he has nothing. Someone who doesn't consider himself to be properly alive can't make it in society, and he realized that early on during his time in counseling. So he put on a mask, clumsily at first, but perfected over the years. None would even entertain the notion that something was wrong with him, something broken inside, not with his intelligence and the way he had trained himself to behave towards the world.

He never expected a girl to change all that. When he first met her, it was on the bus. Bruce prefers that method of transportation over driving a car through rush hour traffic. Whenever he allows himself to let go, an aura of casual disdain and superiority is usually enough to make even the most talkative people shy away from him, giving him space. It was not the case with her, who merely took a seat by his side and continued to sit there even when he glared at her sideways.

She was blind, Bruce discovered when her stop was announced and she tried to move towards the exit, unfolding a walking stick. He didn't know how he missed it as she found the empty seat by his side upon boarding, but there was no missing the signs afterwards. He kept on running into the girl the next few weeks, always on a monday, and she kept on claiming a seat by him. With him paying attention from the start, Bruce noticed her giving him a polite smile each time she took her seat, but she didn't say anything, clearing preferring to ride the bus in silence.

Eventually, he decided to follow her out of sheer curiosity. He had plenty of business meetings to attend to, but something about the strange girl who had inadvertantly gotten closer to him than anyone had in over a decade made Bruce strangely curious about her. Her name was Lisa Monroe, and she was volunteering at a community center, teaching the families of blind children to deal with the disability during their daily lives.

His curiosity sated, Bruce was about to leave, when Lisa stepped outside the classroom assigned to her and gasped. He wasn't sure how, but she had recognized him, and instead of being upset to find Bruce there wondered whether he would like to volunteer at the center as well. And something of turning down the offer, he said yes, for some reason.


-One thing they never, ever want to lose.

In a way, Bruce had gotten that which he had always wanted to recapture, that heartwarming feeling that makes one feel alive. After being, for all intents and purposes, dead for so long, the more time he spent with Lisa, the easier those very emotions he always believed he had discarded were coming to him, and though it was frightening and he felt lost at times, he had never wished to go back to the way he used to be. No, to protect what he currently has, there is nothing Bruce wouldn't do, he thinks.


-Moral lines they tell themselves they will never cross.

For all intents and purposes, Bruce exists in two worlds. The world of work, filled with peers and colleagues and fake smiles, he is ruthless and holds on tightly to his reins of power. He would not break the law, but rather than from ethical concerns, he only wishes to avoid the trouble that would entail, as well as the punishment he would be sure to receive. And, of course, he doesn't have any particular motivation to go what he considers 'all out' against the halfway competent fools arrayed against him, trying to pass as competition.

The other world is one he shares with Lisa, and only one rule applies there. Bruce must never do something that would take away her cheerful smile.


Bruce works in the administration for the Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, where his main position is to raise funds for the school and its various programs. His family had been rich, but what he earns more than allows Bruce to maintain a comfortable lifestyle without having to dip into those resources. Bruce owns a car, but rarely ever drives it. He simply dislikes the hassle that goes into operating his BMW. Most of his inheritance is sealed in various long-term programs, divided roughly in three parts between high-risk investments, low-risk ones and that which would never truly lose its value -- bonds and gold. Most of it cannot be accessed overnight, and the paperwork alone would take the better part of a week. All Bruce keeps in his savings account is an amount of cash equal to three of his paychecks; he has never needed to access more at a moment's notice.

His house is largely utilitarian in design. The furniture is there to accomodate his needs, and what electronics exist beyond the computer Bruce needs for work are as pointless for him as the art decorating the place. They are only in place to give Bruce's home the appearance of normality, which he has carefully cultivated. That is not so for the small library he keeps, however. Among the various textbooks are recreational stories that Bruce enjoys reading. Of particular interest to him is his Jules Verne collection, works which Bruce considers nothing short of genius.

[Ebiris]

Name: Marco Ranieri
Age: 28
Nature: Bon Vivant
Demeanour: Bon Vivant
Clan: Toreador
Concept: Struggling Actor

XP: 8/9

Strength: ***
Dexterity: **
Stamina: ***

Charisma: **** (smooth talker)
Manipulation: **
Appearance: *****

Perception: ***
Intelligence: *
Wits: **


Talents:
Alertness:
Athletics: **
Brawl: **
Dodge: ***
Empathy: **** (gaining trust)
Expression: **
Intimidation:
Leadership:
Streetwise: *
Subterfuge: *

Skills:
Animal Ken: *
Crafts:
Drive: **
Etiquette: **
Firearms:
Melee: *
Performance: **** (acting)
Security:
Stealth:
Survival:

Knowledges:
Academics:
Computer: *
Finance:
Investigation: **
Law: *
Linguistics: *
Medicine
Occult:
Politics:
Science:


Disciplines:
Auspex: *
Celerity: **
Presence: *

Backgrounds:
Ally: *
Fame: **
Generation: ***
Resources: *

Virtues:
Conscience: *****
Self Control: **
Courage: ****

Humanity: ********
Willpower: *****
Blood Pool: 13

Freebies: 2 backgrounds, 4 abilities, 5 attribute, 2 virtue, 1 humanity, 1 willpower


-One good event from their past.
Marco never had much in the way of booksmarts. Or any smarts, really. But nonetheless his good looks and charming manner have carried him far through life, providing him with a steady career first on the stage and then on the screen. Though he never managed to break through into movies beyond a few bit parts, Marco was a regular fixture on many mini-series and soap operas up until a few years ago.

His proudest moment came four years ago when he won an Emmy award for his portrayal of Dirk Danson, idealistic defence attorney in the hit series 'At the Bar'. It finally showed that he could be taken seriously as an actor, paying off for all his hard work over the years.


-One bad event from their past.
It was a simple enough gig. Marco was given a role in what basically appeared to be a Public Service Announcement/Documentary - it seemed to be science-fiction or something, but he didn't really understand a lot of it and didn't really care to find out. To him it was just a paycheck.

After it ran, however, he started to receive threatening phone calls. Then came the lawsuits and the smear stories, as minor misdemeanours from his past were dredged up and his agent stopped returning his calls. Most of it flew by in a whirwind of despair and shock as he could only watch in helpless dismay as his career imploded at the behest of mysterious forces beyond his control. Some science group apparently took great exception to the content of his latest performance, and for a bunch of geeks they had tremendous pull in Hollywood. And so ended the glittering career of Marco Ranieri.


-Moral lines they tell themselves they will never cross.
At heart Marco is a good Catholic boy, and so has quite a lot of hangups and convictions ingrained into him by his family and church from a young age. But the one that sticks most firmly, that he could never ever find any excuse for, is an oddly trivial and simple one.

Never ever hit a woman. It just isn't done.


-One thing they never, ever want to lose.
He's already lost his career, his dignity, his self-respect, and his money. But he still has his good looks and charm, and so long as he can always find a date for the evening, that's something to hold onto. Losing his attractiveness to the opposite sex would basically mean his life was over.


-One thing they have always wanted.
Growing up surrounded by brothers and sisters in his large family, Marco has always wanted one of his own. Unfortunately he's too much of a playboy to ever settle down, but it gnaws quietly at the back of his mind. He'd like to find a nice woman to marry and settle down with, but actually committing to any sort of long-term relationship seems impossible - he always either finds fault with his partner or simply grows bored and moves on.


For now Marco performs a variety of jobs around Reno, taking work where he can find it. Occassionally he'll get gigs at the few theatres the city has, but when that work isn't available he can be found entertaining at casinos, which provides enough sporadic income to keep him going. He's not very good with his finances and tends to spend more money than he should on entertainment and leisure which leaves him very little for the essentials. Despite the cheapness of his apartment he often winds up having to convince the landlord to hold off on rent collection, and tends to spend a lot of time with his neighbours to bum free meals off them. Of course, they think he's such a lovable and fun person that they don't begrudge him this, and he does have a number of friends even in his much reduced circumstances.

[Sierra]

Name: Paula Wallace Ginsburgh
Nature: Celebrant
Demeanor: Trickster
Clan: Malkavian
Generation: 10th
Concept: Hipster

Age: 24
Appearance: Short (just a few inches over five feet), with short brown hair and blue eyes, cute in that pixielike sort of way. Tends to dress in an obviously bohemian manner, very much a thrift-store shopper.
Family: Both parents still living and together, though relations are strained between them and Paula (they talk still, but infrequently; businesslike and mostly just at family gatherings); two older brothers (who I have not named), one younger (ditto), and a younger sister (Elizabeth Georgia Ginsburgh--yes, she is E.G.G.. Some parents just don't think these things through enough in advance). Elizabeth (15 or 16 years old) looks up to her older sister despite Paula's life being a total wreck. Paula is prone to referring to her by a variety of nicknames (Liz, Lizzer, even Egg, which no one else can get away with doing).

Paula is the third child of five born to a conservative family of Reno locals. Her parents are both successful professionals with a hearty enthusiasm for laissez faire government policy; nominally Christian but never did more than pay it lip service (Paula herself couldn't care less about religion).

Paula demonstrated emotional problems from an early age and was diagnosed as manic depressive in her late teens. For years prior, her parents refused to acknowledge any possibility of a chemical imbalance and attributed her problems to a mix of laziness and low self-esteem, constantly reiterating that the only things needed to set her straight were motivation and the proper discipline. The natural result of this is that Paula took to adopting the opposite viewpoint in everything just to be contrary. The only real constant in her life has been music (listening to it and playing it). Though she seems to lack the focus to do anything with it professionally, there was occasionally talk of signing on to some entertainment magazine's staff as a critic (like all good emotionally disturbed people, she was an English major in college).

Any plans she might've had were derailed when her neurological issues caught up with her and triggered an emotional breakdown midway through college. She spent a year committed and receiving counseling before she was deemed capable of living on her own--which she promptly did once she was released, not wanting to deal with her parents any more or inflict herself on her siblings any further.

She currently lives in a small apartment in a bad part of town, walking to work at a record store every day. Her nights are often spent clubbing and, sometimes, playing music for no one to hear into the wee hours of the morning. However much she might evade the truth, she's very much stuck in a dead end.

As for the questions posed:

-Moral lines they tell themselves they will never cross.

Paula's not exactly a beacon of righteousness--she's slept around a fair bit, and experimented with nearly every drug under the sun--but she's drawn some lines in regards to what it's acceptable to do to other people. Don't lie to, cheat, steal from, or hurt someone else unless they've clearly done something to deserve it. Now, what adds up to someone falling into the category of "deserving it" is pretty fluid, and Paula's been known to be flexible in this regard due to her emotional instability, but the logical conclusion of this mindset (such as it is) is that children are uniformly excluded from earning her ire. Her perspective is that, fundamentally, their parents are to be held accountable for their actions. She has nothing but contempt for those who mistreat or abuse children, and she'll have to be in some pretty dire straits to ever find herself joining that group.

-One bad event from their past.

Crashing and burning in her third year of college. Bad breakup + quitting the current round of medication cold turkey in a fit of pique + the obligatory existential crisis (what does one do with an English degree, anyway?) = perfect storm of neuroses and a total nervous breakdown. Briefly catatonic and then on suicide watch in a sanitarium for a year. For her parents, this was a long time coming, and the fact that they seem to believe it could happen again at any time if she doesn't shape up her life exactly as they tell her to has not helped relations between them.

-One good event from their past.

Graduating high school. For a lot of reasons. For one, she's of the opinion that the American public school system is a wretched hive of scum and villainy in all but name and she was glad to leave what she viewed as a poisonous atmosphere; her parents had frequently expressed skepticism over whether she would even finish (though intelligent, she had a tendency to not do schoolwork) and showing them up has always been a treat; going either to college or the working world brought the attraction of leaving home, something which had long been desirable given mutual antipathy between her and her parents. All in all, there was the air of the Bad Times ending about everything and the suggestion that, come what may, the future would be Better.

Also, she managed to talk someone into letting her play a hard rock rendition of Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance" over the roll-call at the graduation ceremony instead of there being the usual recorded version. "And Paula Ginsburg on guitar." It was a good day.

-One thing they never, ever want to lose.

Her sister's respect. No matter how much Paula's personal life might be a mass of flaming wreckage, the fact remains that her and Liz are the only girls in the family. Paula watched out for her growing up at least as much as her parents did, and was there to ease her through the various tribulations of growing up, getting through school, and encroaching adulthood. However much she might swear up and down when she's in a bad mood that she can get by without her family, it's wholly bravado given that Liz is her main confidant (and probably the only truly stable thing in her life).

-One thing they have always wanted.

Elvis Costello's guitar. More seriously: Peace of mind. Paula's pretty much convinced that this state is a popular illusion but she has nevertheless sought it in the arms of lovers, in the throes of various drugs, and in music, the last being the closest thing to release from the demons of chemical imbalance that she can find. She's come to rely on it as the only real means of catharsis she has and would, if it all possible, be perpetually involved with it (either listening or performing, she's not picky as long as she doesn't have to go deal with the real world). With Malkavian blood factored in, she might just get what she's looking for (or at least be sufficiently convinced that her own little world is real for there to be little difference).

---

Stats go here.

Attributes

Physical: 3

Strength: *
Dexterity: ***
Stamina: **

Social: 5

Charisma: ***
Manipulation: **
Appearance: ***

Mental: 7

Perception: ***
Intelligence: ****
Wits: ***

Abilities

Talents: 5

Alertness: ***
Athletics:
Brawl:
Dodge: *
Empathy: *
Expression:
Intimidation:
Leadership:
Streetwise: *
Subterfuge: **

Skills: 9

Animal Ken:
Crafts:
Drive: *
Etiquette:
Firearms: **
Melee:
Performance: *** (Music)
Security:
Stealth: ***
Survival: *

Knowledges: 13

Academics: ***
Computer: **
Finance:
Investigation: *
Law: *
Linguistics: **
Medicine:
Occult: *
Politics: *
Science: **

Advantages

Backgrounds: 5

Allies: *
Generation: ***
Resources: *

Disciplines: 3

Auspex: *
Dementation: **
Obfuscation: *

Virtues: 7

Conscience: ****
Self-Control: ***
Courage: ***

Humanity: *******
Willpower: ***
Blood Pool: 13

Merits/Flaws:

Acute Sense (Hearing) (+1)
Common Sense (+1)
Prey Exclusion (Children) (-1)
Ward (Elizabeth) (-1)

Freebie points spent on: 4 talents, 1 discipline.

XP: 8