Chicago By Night - for Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition
Created by Onyx Path Publishing
Help create a beautiful Chicago By Night tabletop RPG hardcover source book for Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition !
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Kindred of Chicago: Bronwyn
about 6 years ago
– Fri, Nov 09, 2018 at 06:06:47 AM
Hello Kickstarter Coterie,
We've just wrapped up our first 10 days on this 30-day campaign, and have built a solid foundation for our Chicago Coterie Community. We hope to continue to add more content via expanded supplements by unlocking Stretch Goals, though, so we need to continue to grow and add more backers to our project.
That's an important point - the extra content that gets added will not be part of the main Chicago By Night book. That's intentional. The book is already written (though there will still be some editing and minor development done) and we don't want to make any changes that will affect or delay our work on getting this book into your hands. Anything added - the Chicago Folio or Let The Streets Run Red - will come after and not hinder the work on Chicago By Night. So the Onyx Path team waits until they're comfortable with the manuscript before launching the kickstarter campaign because they want to be able to deliver the project you supported.
Having the manuscript in solid shape before the campaign also allows me to share it with you during the course of this kickstarter. The creative team are proud of their work and eager to show it, but we also want our backers to know what they're signing up for with this project before any payment is processed and final decisions made. The plan is to show backers all of the sections of this book during the campaign, so there are no surprises or misunderstandings as to its contents. It also gets everyone really excited to see how great the final book will be - I mean, reading awesome stuff in a text block is one thing, but when all the layout and artwork are added in, this is gonna look so awesome!
So, for those who haven't yet joined in - here's another tiny glimpse of what's contained inside. When you pledge your support, you'll be able to access links to download a growing list of sections of the book - with more stuff added every few days. (Another sneak peek coming tomorrow, in fact!) So, please join in and let's explore the city together...
Bronwyn
Epithet: The Spider in Her Web
Quote: “You place your order like everyone else and I’ll get you exactly what you need.”
Clan: Malkavian
Mortal Days: Destiny Denied Her
Bronwyn was born in 1454, to a pair of innkeepers in a small Scottish town. They co-owned the inn with the McDonoughs, whose daughter Corbin was Bronwyn’s age. When Bronwyn’s parents died, the McDonoughs took her in and raised her as their own. Bronwyn and Corbin grew up close as sisters and thick as thieves.
When the girls were older, the handsome Sir Edward Warren stopped at the inn. He was charming, and Bronwyn found herself quite smitten. When Sir Edward proposed to Bronwyn, her father approved of the match, and that night opened their finest wine to toast the couple. Corbin served them herself, and was the first to raise a glass. Shortly after, Bronwyn felt her eyes grow heavy. She remembered being helped up to bed, then nothing until a commotion the next morning woke her. Rushing to see what had happened, she found several people in her betrothed’s room, where Sir Edward and Corbin lay entwined, the evidence of her friend’s lost virginity staining the sheets.
Corbin’s father insisted Sir Edward had no other course but to marry his daughter. Unable to bear her friend’s triumphant smile, Bronwyn fled deep into the Highlands
.
She wandered aimlessly in her grief, until hunger and exhaustion forced her to rest. A gentle-voiced man emerged from the shadows, telling her not to cry. He introduced himself as Bryan and asked for her story. Telling the tale made her feel a little better, like draining poison from a wound.
Kindred Nights: Information, Spies, Shadows, and Blood
Bryan spoke about the tranquility he’d found in undeath, and offered her the gift of it. She accepted, not realizing it would rip her so harshly from life. Corbin’s betrayal was never far from Bronwyn’s mind despite Bryan’s promises of peace and calm, and she often imagined exacting her revenge. The time came when she felt strong enough to carry it out. After a fraught reunion, Brownyn killed Sir Edward and Embraced Corbin, leaving her rival to live with guilt and grief.
Over the next two centuries, Brownyn traveled through Europe, where she learned the nuances of Kindred politics and kept company with nobles. In the 18th century, rising Kindred tensions in Europe caused Bronwyn to seek another new start and sail to the New World. She settled in Chicago in the early 19th century. She helped Lawrence Ballard destroy Gary’s steel industry, which convinced Lodin to agree to help her keep her presence in Chicago a secret.
In 1972, Bronwyn founded the Blue Velvet nightclub. At times, Blue Velvet threatened to rival the Succubus Club as Chicago’s premier Kindred establishment, though the other business stayed slightly ahead until its destruction in 1993. Rumors swirled about Blue Velvet’s anonymous owner, but Bronwyn refused to reveal herself until Prince Jackson took the throne in Chicago. Bronwyn was pleased at the popularity her reveal garnered, but simultaneously found the limelight distasteful. Even now, with five years as a public figure, Bronwyn struggles with social anxiety and rarely trusts another vampire’s purported motives.
Bronwyn’s desperation to overcome her anxiety forced her into a new business arrangement taking the Kindred world of tonight by storm. With five other Kindred, Bronwyn co-founded the Circulatory System. The group traffics vessels of rare or sought-after vintage throughout Chicago and beyond. She holds tastings at exclusive, invite-only parties at Blue Velvet, storing a herd in its cellar, and selling the blood to the highest bidders. Though she keeps a lower profile than some of her fellow System operators, her paranoia over the trafficking’s possible failure compels her to sometimes attend a tasting or accompany the cattle on their way to the slaughter.
Of greatest concern to Bronwyn is the rumor of Corbin hiding in Chicago, waiting to disrupt her careful operation. If she interferes with the club, the trafficking, or any of Bronwyn’s business interests, the Malkavian may destroy her rival once and for all.
Plots and Schemes:
• Secret Keeper: While Bronwyn is certainly old enough to make a play for a spot on the Primogen Council, she prefers to wield power behind the scenes. She’s amassed quite the collection of secrets about other Kindred in the city. They range from minor scandalous gossip to long-buried skeletons whose exhumation could throw entire clans into disarray. Over the years, she’s unleashed them sparingly, when she’s needed to influence an agenda. She only has a few good scoops on the Lasombra, and is eager to add a few more to her arsenal.
• Manipulated Spymaster: Between the Prince’s purges and elders following the Beckoning east, several positions of power in Chicago sit empty. Some of them are supposed to be up to their respective clans to appoint, but the clan elders and Primogen prefer to wait for Bronwyn’s reports before they make anything formal. She’s become the unofficial spymaster for the city’s Camarilla, and even the occasional Anarch leader comes asking for her help. Unknown to Bronwyn, Helena sometimes exerts her influence, making the Malkavian approve someone with a shady past, or reject a perfectly clean candidate.
• Supply and Demand: With her role in the Circulatory System, Bronwyn’s been able to collect information on the particular tastes and drinking habits of prominent Kindred. Though she assures her buyers their transactions will be discreet and anonymous, she’s managed to put some pieces together. Bronwyn knows that selling this information would ruin her reputation and see her removed from the System. However, she’s been able to arrange rare vessels for delicate meetings, or dropped a hint to a nervous fledgling whose sire needed appeasing. The Circulatory System deals exclusively in human vessels, but Bronwyn’s received several whispered queries wondering whether the System’s administrators have ever considered blood from more... potent sources. She’s heard the lengths some of her fellow elders have gone to in order to quiet the Beckoning, and is now looking into how to supply vitae as well as blood.
Domain and Haven:
• Blue Velvet (Haven 4, Herd 4, Influence 5, Resources 3) In addition to her apartment above Blue Velvet, Bronwyn rents out a workspace in the Loop for her dealings with the Circulatory System. The site manager cut her a deal, as she only requires the office during off-hours, and pays in cash and on time.
• Circulatory System (Allies 3, Contacts 3, Herd 5, Resources 4) Bronwyn is considering migrating the herd doped up beneath Blue Velvet to another, less prominent location, in case the rumors of Corbin’s presence are true. Moving that many enslaved vessels will be quite the operation, however.
Thralls and Tools:
• Ian Gibson (Retainers 2) Ian Gibson, a ghoul sent to Bronwyn by her sire Bryan, helped Blue Velvet open its doors, and acts as both the club’s bouncer and hiring manager in modern nights. She trusts Ian’s capable stewardship, which puts him in a rare position as Bronwyn trusts remarkably few Kindred or kine.
• Nina Rowland (Retainer 1) Bronwyn’s personal assistant, Nina Rowland, keeps her calendar and handles the club’s daytime operations. She doesn’t ask too many questions, which is how Bronwyn prefers it. If she can keep all her employees and associates in the dark, Bronwyn feels content.
Kindred Relationships:
• Bennett Steadman (Respect) Adze (Worry) Bronwyn keeps tabs on other Kindred clubs in town. She was pleased to hear of the Succubus Club’s resurgence, and is intrigued by Red Noº 5. Its owner, Bennett Steadman, strikes her as a solid businessman. His business partner Adze’s relationship with the Camarilla concerns Bronwyn, but he’s been in the city as long as Bronwyn herself has, and has been massively influential over its entertainment scene.
• Jason Newberry (Dangerous) Bronwyn’s whisper network frequently brings her disturbing rumors about her clan’s Primogen, Son. She avoids him as best she can, but it’s not always possible when he calls the clan’s members for “group therapy.” If anything could compel her to take a political role, it would be Son’s excesses.
Whispers:
• The Prince’s Ear: The last time the Prince visited Blue Velvet, he spent over an hour in Bronwyn’s office. The next day he called for a Blood Hunt on several Kindred who’d otherwise been thought clean.
• Sororicide: Corbin hasn’t been seen in Chicago for several years. Rumor has it, she didn’t leave; Bronwyn had her killed.
• Redirected Rage: Some claim Blue Velvet was originally one of the targets for the Lupine attacks, but Bronwyn learned of the plan ahead of time and paid the Lupines to attack the Succubus Club instead.
• A Question of Taste: Bronwyn and Annabelle exchanged heated words over a name on a guest list recently. The argument ended quickly, but Annabelle hasn’t returned to Blue Velvet and publicly slams the Circulatory System’s practices.
Mask and Mien:
• Bronwyn’s mask is that of Elinor Hewitt, the manager of several bed and breakfast properties throughout the city. Her profile boasts a five-star rating, thanks to Bronwyn bringing her skills as an innkeeper into modern nights (Mask 2).
• Bronwyn is a white woman in her early 20s. She’s small and slight, but sturdily built. Her dark brown hair falls to her waist, though she tends to twist it into a thick braid to keep it out of the way. She favors smartly-cut business suits, and prefers pants to skirts.
• She speaks with confidence and conviction, which can sometimes read as blunt. She won’t apologize for it. While she’s certainly not timid, Bronwyn has a stand-offishness about her upon meeting new people.
Sire: Bryan
Embraced: 1452 (Born 1437)
Ambition: Become the center of Kindred intelligence in Chicago
Convictions: Make others earn your trust
Touchstones: Ian Gibson — ghoul and Blue Velvet bouncer
Humanity: 5
Generation: 8th
Blood Potency: 4
It's Vampire James, your point person for this Kickstarter campaign.
Q&A, STOP & TALK
Matthew Dawkins Q&A
A reminder that Chicago By Night developer Matthew Dawkins is holding a Q&A today (Friday 9th November) at 22:00 GMT on his youtube channel: www.youtube.com/user/clackclickbang
The team from Onyx Path are at Gamehole Con in Madison, Wisconsin this weekend! Stop by Booth #19 and say hi!
STRETCH GOAL
And speaking of adding more content and rewards, we're rapidly approaching our next Stretch Goal:
At $74,000 in funding - LET THE STREETS RUN RED – A second chronicle, set in rural, weird Illinois, will be added to Let the Streets Run Red.
Let's see if we can get there this weekend!
#ChicagoByNight
Backers Only Sneak Peek - Coteries
about 6 years ago
– Thu, Nov 08, 2018 at 06:19:45 AM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Kindred of Chicago: Lester Knife
about 6 years ago
– Wed, Nov 07, 2018 at 06:59:27 AM
Hello Kickstarter Coterie,
A quick update before I post today's kindred preview. We are now more than 1100 strong - backers from all over the world banding together to see this project become a reality! And still growing every day! If you've been on the fence about joining, come be a part of this group and help us make this book as amazing as it can be.
We're very close to hitting our SEVENTH Stretch Goal! We've expanded our rewards to include two supplemental books, additional add-ons, a digital wallpaper showcasing the awesome art, and a t-shirt opportunity. There's plenty more to come - and joining in as a backer is what makes that happen!
Also, backers get special Sneak Peek previews of manuscript for Chicago By Night, including more info about the kindred of Chicago, information about the city, and a whole section on Coteries (coming tomorrow!). So join now and be a part of the behind-the-scenes preview club.
Matthew Dawkins Q&A This Friday
If you want to see and hear (and participate!) in what I'm sure will be a really fun discussion about Chicago By Night, the developer, our own Gentleman Gamer Matthew Dawkins, will be hosting a Q&A to answer your many many questions! In fact, here he is now:
“Matthew here! I’ll be hosting a live Q&A on my YouTube channel focused on Chicago by Night, but in which you can ask me anything (within reason) and I’ll answer (probably)! I’d love for you to join me, and we can all discuss the Chicago project and how it’s doing so far.”
Epitaph: Flustered Caretaker
Quote: “Hey it’s funny that animals are talkin’ all the time but they don’t say nearly as much dumb shit as humans.” Clan: Gangrel
Mortal Days: No People to Call His Own
Born in 1940s on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation in Montana, Lester’s family struggled with poverty on an already poor reservation. It was hard finding work and Lester’s generally reclusive, mildly misanthropic nature, made things tougher and tougher for them. When the Indian Relocation Act of 1956 came into full power, Lester’s immediate family urged him to take the opportunity offered.
Lester decided that anywhere was better than life in the dirt in Rocky Boy so he left and went to Chicago. Work was promised for him there and so was a place to stay. When he arrived, he found there was neither and life on the streets of Chicago began immediately.
Rather than visit the American Indigenous Center of Chicago, his errant ways introduced him to Natives gangbangers and street hustlers. He fell deep into that crowd and by the time he connected with the AIC he already had a reputation.
There was talk about moving the AIC out of the storefront they were in and into new building, and an elder named Ernie was promising labor contracts to those who would help renovate an old Mason temple as their new home. Ernie’s money put him in a space of control, and Lester couldn’t help but watch as the older man abused his power, molesting fellow members and siphoning off cash. When a young girl and her brother turned up dead, Lester called Ernie out as the monster that had raped and killed them both. Despite the evidence, a host of elders defended Ernie and banned Lester from the AIC, citing his previous crimes.
Lester warned Ernie that his time would come. One night, half drunk at a bar called “Twisters” in Ravenswood, frequented by bikers, truckers, Blacks and Natives, Lester went on a tirade about how somebody needed to hunt Ernie down and gut him. An old biker came up to him and sat with him for a while, listening to his tirade. He got Lester dangerously drunk that night and offered to give him the power to take revenge for his friends. Lester jumped at the chance and the biker, a Gangrel by the name of Tyrus Embraced Lester.
Kindred Nights: One Step from Apocalypse
Lester rode with Tyrus and his crew for about a year before he came back to Chicago. The AIC had already moved into its new building and Ernie was an important member of the Board of Directors.
Lester watched Ernie for a while and, when the opportunity presented itself, he caught Ernie late one night after a board meeting. Ernie had stayed behind to do some paperwork. Paperwork was his euphemism for working a laundering deal in the basement with some local gangsters. Lester came in and attacked the whole miserable lot, though Ernie somehow escaped. To his surprise, he was not able to feed that night. The shadows of the building seemed to come to life and consume all the dead bodies. There was something else here. It was beneath the building and hungry for blood.
At first he thought it was Kindred but he wasn’t so sure. All that he knew was that it was convenient. So, he fed it the remains of his kills. It spoke to him in whispers and he began to kill more frequently for it.
He soon realized there was more than one entity in the building and they grew restless. He tried to stop feeding it but then accidents started happening to the people in the building. The entities were active and hungry.
He turned to his Gangrel brothers who investigated and confirmed Lester was right and something old and powerful was deep beneath the building. Its anxieties and urges bled out into the community and brought everyone into a state of chaos and disarray.
The Gangrel decided to keep it secret from the Prince and tasked Lester with keeping an eye on it and keeping it fed. Lester became a volunteer maintenance person for the building once the community agreed to let him come around again. Lester has managed so far to keep the entities under control though recently the community decided to leave the building, after over 50 years of occupying it. This has left Lester in the predicament of not having easy access to feeding stock. Lester is nervous about what may happen with the entities if they grow hungry enough to reach out. He does what he can to get access to the building and feed the entities, but time is running out.
Plots and Schemes:
• Buried Secrets: Lester is concerned with the creatures lurking in the old building. While he has informed his sire and other Gangrel about its existence, he has not told them all his suspicions. The entities whisper about being part of the land, older than America’s Gangrel, and ready to take back the lands around the lake. Poor Lester feels compelled to serve.
• Resident Magi: Lester isn’t the only one who has been managing the entities that lurk beneath the old Mason building. Numerous Native elders from different magical traditions have stumbled across it and Lester as well. They were instrumental in urging the people to leave the building. While they are generally hostile to vampires they understand Lester’s situation and have become tenuous friends with him. They have told him the earth entities are at war with those beneath the water. He now wishes to research everything about dangerous cryptids that exist in the different environments.
• The Open Road: It’s been some time since Lester jumped on a motorbike and just rode into the night, but the prospect sure is tempting. The Wolf Pack have abandoned the city though, and Lester is too afraid to flee a Camarilla domain alone. He needs protection and a caretaker to take his place.
Domain and Havens:
• Bedsit (Haven 1) For a long time, the AIC doubled as Lester’s haven. Now he has taken to a room at a local single room occupancy building. He doesn’t have much in the way of resources, though he takes jobs from some local Kindred from time to time. He’s trying to keep from being noticed too much so that people won’t start asking what he does with his nights and why he’s still hanging around the old AIC building.
• The Lost (Herd 1) Lester’s hunt is a dismal experience of preying on vagrants and tourists lost in this part of the city. He dopes them up with drugs after feeding to confuse their memories of the experience.
Thralls and Tools:
• Bestial Companions (Retainers 2) Lester has enslaved a number of urban scavengers such as raccoons, coyotes, pigeons, and possums with drops of his vitae. He enjoys the escapism of seeing through their eyes and listening to their chirps and natters.
• Ernie Head (Potential Contacts 1) Though his connection to the Indigenous people of this area is weak, Lester feels a strong bond of hatred with Ernie Head, though the abusive mortal hasn’t been seen in some time. Lester knows he’s alive and still wants to punish him, but also feels if he can compel Ernie to admit to his crimes it could act as a way of calming the waters between Lester and the other members of the AIC.
Kindred Relationships:
• Clan Gangrel (Neglected) While Lester generally has some respect from the Gangrel of the area, most people really don’t notice him. For a while there was a rumor he had died when the Lupines came through town. In truth, the Lupines who found him didn’t see him as much of a threat and left him alone.
• Maldavis (Captive Audience) Edith Beaubien (Believer) Maldavis and Edith listen intently to Lester’s strange ramblings, when they’re around to hear them.
• Sylvia Roanhorse (Sympathy) He likes to hang with Sylvia because she’s one of the few Natives he knows, but she’s so young and Thin-Blooded it’s hard for him to connect with her.
Whispers:
• Drowned in Myth: The Mason building covers the resting place of a handful of vampires calling themselves “the Drowned.” This rumor didn’t originate from Lester, but it’s spoken of quietly among other Natives.
• Bill of Goods: Lester has reached out to Neally with an offer to purchase the building and make it his own domain, not telling the Ventrue about what lurks beneath.
• What Lurks Beneath: The things in the building have slipped out from time to time and hunted up north. Luckily, Lester’s been able to get them to follow him back to the AIC and he’s been able to cover the evidence of the hunt. He knows he can’t keep this up on his own.
Mask and Mien:
• Lester appears to be man in his 30s or 40s. It’s hard to tell because it’s obvious there has been a lot of road and hard drinking in his life. His hair is long and black and hangs to mid back.
• Mostly dressed in jeans and hightops he makes his way around the Ravenswood and Edgewater areas of the city.
• Lester takes the name Arthur Ford when asked about his role as caretaker of the Mason building, claiming with a wary smile to earn minimum wage and be satisfied with his lot. He dislikes his fabricated persona, believing it a little too close to the real thing (Mask 1).
Sire: Tyrus
Embraced: 1983 (Born 1942)
Ambition: Don’t allow the masters beneath the ground to wake
Convictions: Always keep the masters fed
Touchstones: Ernie Head — an abusive Native elder to whom Lester is painfully linked
Humanity: 6
Generation: 8th
Blood Potency: 1
As mentioned, we're closing in rapidly on our next Stretch Goal:
At $71,000 in funding - NEW ADD-ON REWARD: BECKETT’S JYHAD DIARY PDF - A new Add-On Reward will be created. For +$6, backers will receive a PDF version of Beckett's Jyhad Diary, documenting the history of the Vampire world up to the latest edition.
This is one I'm excited about. As someone who's perpetually late-to-the-party, I've missed purchasing Beckett's at a few opportunities, and have heard only awesome things about it. I'm looking forward to adding this to my rewards list, should we unlock this goal!
At $74,000 in funding - LET THE STREETS RUN RED – A second chronicle, set in rural, weird Illinois, will be added to Let the Streets Run Red.
Let's keep at it!
#ChicagoByNight
#V5Chicago
It's Vampire James, your point person for this Kickstarter campaign.
Backers Only Sneak Peek - Kindred #2
about 6 years ago
– Tue, Nov 06, 2018 at 06:19:08 AM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Kindred of Chicago: Nickolas "Sweetie Pepper" White
about 6 years ago
– Mon, Nov 05, 2018 at 05:55:38 AM
Hello Kickstarter Coterie,
Another Kindred preview today, showing a glimpse of what backers will receive in their Sneak Peek tomorrow.
Nickolas “Sweetie Pepper” White
Epitaph: Rebel without any fucks
Quote: “Compromise is the word used to disguise the fact one has given up. It’s one of the White Man’s best poisons.”
Clan: Caitiff
Mortal Days: Terror on the Streets
Nickolas White always seemed to draw the short straw when it came to opportunities. His parents had moved into the Jane Adams Homes on the near West Side of the city as soon as they began to start allowing Blacks into those projects.
He hated that place, and its only saving grace was its proximity to Maxwell Street. If his dad had a good work week, and enough money was saved up, Nickolas’ parents would walk him to the market. He’d see street vendors, jazz and blues people playing in the alleys and parking lots and his dad would buy him an Italian beef sandwich. Nickolas always wanted lots of sweet peppers on his sandwich, earning him the nickname “Sweetie Pepper.”
By the time Nickolas started going to school, the area was already a hotbed of racial gangs, each group protecting their own neighborhood from interlopers. Nickolas’ mother and father urged him to stay clear of the fighting, but he quickly became embroiled in street politics.
Nickolas insisted he had to continue because he was fighting for his people. The truth of it though was he just loved the thrill of the fight. Having a family of brothers at his side who would come fight with him at a moment’s notice meant he was somebody on the streets. One day, Nickolas and two of his friends were victims of a drive-by shooting as they were coming out of a liquor store. Nickolas survived, the others did not.
While he proclaimed he would get revenge for his friends, in truth, he cared more about the insult to his reputation. He tied his sense of reputation to his support of the cause of Blackness. He saw everything in terms of White vs Black and felt any attack was an attack on Blackness itself. He just wanted to hurt the people who made him look bad. When he found the ring leader of the shooters, Amadeo Carluccio, he beat and strangled Amadeo and his girlfriend.
Nickolas garnered the attention of every cop and mobster and became a legend in his own streets. Shoot out after shoot out, Nickolas kept one step ahead. The Italians killed his parents. After that, Sweetie Pepper led a one-man war against them (and any non-Blacks who managed to get in his way). As he fought, he made more enemies. The cops were coming down harder on Black gangs and the Mafia had gotten involved. At this point he had drawn the attention of local Kindred influences in the area. Most of them wanted Sweetie Pepper dealt with as he was drawing far too much attention to a good, politically ignored, hunting ground.
Sweetie Pepper was eventually drawn into an ambush where he lost the fight and would have died. As his vision faded and he was bleeding out, the vampire hitman laughed and said it would be a shame for him to go out in this fashion, as he descended with fangs exposed.
Kindred Nights: The Promise of Destruction
The Embrace turned Sweetie Pepper’s world upside down. The vampire who Embraced him took great pleasure in showing him how little his ideas of reputation and race wars mattered. He showed him how much of the world he thought he was protecting benefitted powerful vampires who were mostly White. He showed him how so many of his targets had been selected by Ventrue and the Camarilla. Then his sire removed all trace of his face and name from Pepper’s memory.
Sweetie Pepper reconnected under a different alias with the various Black Nationalist movements but grew enraged when he saw them fighting against each other, killing more Blacks than anyone else. He realized it was all ridiculous games being played by monsters and now he was one of them. There were systems on top of systems to keep those on top on top, and those on the bottom on the bottom.
That knowledge pushed him over the edge and he started killing again. At first, he told himself he’d do better, only killing bad people. He tried informing people about the truth and helping to instigate race riots. He started feeding off drug dealers, dope fiends, and crooked cops. It didn’t matter they were someone’s child, or husband, or wife. He liked the rush of the kill too much and started killing indiscriminately. Again, he brought attention to the impoverished feeding grounds of the city. Lodin, in an uproar, demanded his head. Many vampires came out to claim it. This caused him to switch his killing to the Kindred. He hated Chicago. He hated what he was, what had been done to him, and what they could do.
Where once he had been a legend of the impoverished Black communities, he was now becoming a legend of anarchy among Kindred. Some Anarchs secretly love the trouble he stirs up in the city, but they are not immune to his murderous pursuits. Juggler recently secreted him out of the city only to find his haven burned down as a receipt. Sweetie Pepper didn’t want to leave. He may despise Chicago, but he’s not finished with the city.
Plots and Schemes:
• Dangerous Manipulations: Sweetie Pepper has returned to Chicago. Nickolas is walking among the Black communities and pressing gangs to act up, running guns, and working his way into the underworld on the West Side and South Side of the city.
• Foment Chaos: Pepper’s mobilizing an army, building up a coterie of young men and women who crave violence. Maldavis and the other Anarchs think Sweetie Pepper is coming to attack the Camarilla. The truth is a different story.
Domain and Haven:
• The Tunnels (Haven 3) Sweetie Pepper calls the Near West Side of the city home. It has changed significantly since his Embrace but the remnants of the Jane Adams projects are still there. Beneath them run a network of tunnels connecting all of the old, bricked up, forgotten incinerators. He uses these as a haven and branches out making sure he can’t be traced back to his lair.
• Abandoned Properties (Contacts 1, Haven 1, Herd 2, Influence 2) He holds court with young revolutionaries in abandoned properties on the West Side. Mostly old stores and storefront churches. From there he teaches a new generation of disaffected youth how to fight and upend the systems holding them down.
Thralls and Tools:
• Disaffected Youths (Allies 3, Contacts 3, Fame 1) Sweetie Pepper is calling young men and women together to teach them how to systematically disrupt the system. He teaches them everything from Sun Tzu to Machiavelli to Chavez, suggesting that things have to be broken at all levels.
• Vexed Vitae Gang (Retainers 3) White has revealed his Kindred nature to his innermost circle of young gangers. These kids he calls the Vexed Vitae are becoming a quiet movement of hunters who assist him on special missions.
Kindred Relationships:
• Kevin Jackson (Hostile) Sweetie Pepper does not give a fuck about the Camarilla and he regularly lets everyone know it. He doesn’t like Jackson but respects that he is a man of his word. Jackson hasn’t sent the Sheriff after Nickolas yet and Nickolas knows it’s only a time before this happens.
• Clan Brujah (Pitiful) Nickolas is at odds with the Brujah and any calling themselves Anarchs. He feels their brand of anarchy is based around bringing freedom to a privileged set and building new hierarchies. He has made it no secret that, given the chance, he will take Critias’ head.
Whispers:
• Homicidal Maniac: Nickolas, while respected among Caitiff, is not trusted. Some find it of concern how often his coterie-mates have accidents when they go on missions with him.
• Let Them Fight: Word on the street is that Sweetie Pepper is about to make a move on Balthazar, and few feel inclined to stop him.
• Daddy? Pepper might cool down a little if he could only find his sire, but there’s conjecture over who that might be. He remembers a white man with dispassionate eyes, but that’s all.
Mask and Mien:
• Nickolas is a gangly man. His arms seem just a little too long for his body. His face is long and narrow, and he appears to be in his late 20s but bears the wear and scars of a hard life of fighting in the streets.
• White is old school and simple in terms of clothes. He wears most often, pleated slacks, well-polished leather shoes, v-neck t-shirts, and a gold chain. He is clean shaven with his hair in a close-cropped afro. He always smells of cigarettes and whiskey and is prone to playing with a bone toothpick between his teeth.
• White wears a Mask as a street rapper and drug dealer named Incognito. He has a small mortal following, but his last musical performance was over three years ago, eroding the value of this identity (Mask 1).
Sire: Capone
Embraced: 1971 (Born 1942)
Ambition: Take control of the Almighty Black P. Stone Nation gang
Convictions: I will break everyone who gets in my way
Touchstones: Loretta James — A member of the Vexed Vitae trained to join the police department to be his eyes and ears in the CPD.
Humanity: 3
Generation: 10th
Blood Potency: 2
At $65,000 in funding - LET THE STREETS RUN RED – The first chronicle, set in the throbbing heart and ruined suburbs of Chicago, will be added to Let the Streets Run Red, a PDF supplement set in and around the Chicago and Midwest area, incorporating characters absent from V5 Chicago by Night and exploring the activities of Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and the rural Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana areas. All backers receiving the Chicago By Night hardcover will automatically have a PDF version of Let the Streets Run Red added to their rewards list.
Since this project will expand the Chicago setting, Matthew and team are able to incorporate a few more backer characters into the setting. If we hit this Stretch Goal and Let the Streets Run Red becomes an active project, we'll be able to add another 5 slots to the Primogen reward tier, which will have the creative team working with you to have your character added to the Chicago setting.
At $67,000 in funding - KICKSTARTER BACKER T-SHIRT - hosted on the Redbubble store for a limited time, a Chicago By Night shirt at a steep discount. All backers will be notified when the shirt becomes available.
OVER 1000 BACKERS!
We have surpassed 1,000 backers for this project! I'd like to think we've got another 1,000 (or more!) to join in... Let's make sure we embrace as many as possible and bring them into Clan Kickstarter!
#ChicagoByNight
#V5Chicago
It's Vampire James, your point person for this Kickstarter campaign.
