The Prince: Gangrel Mostly a figurehead that was part of the Toreador's power play to wrest power away from the Ventrue. Before the Princes disappearance, there were THREE blue bloods in positions of power. So there was definitely an unfair bias that existed. That the Toreador could easily use this to cause unrest among the other clans. Plus the Gangrel elder would be easier to please. So long as the city is taken care of, the Prince would be content to let the Primogen handle the trivial tasks. But the Gangrel have the power to back up their threats if the city suffers. The Seneshcal: Vacant, but since the Gangrel is well aware they are being manipulated. They might seek out the Nosferatu who have no skin in the game. The Sheriff: Ventrue While the Ventrue's overall power would be reduced. It could not be erased entirely. They hold dominion in mortal affairs. Which would make them a dangerous enemy. The Ventrue would never have accepted the Toreador as Prince and vice versa. But letting the Ventrue maintain some positions of power would be a necessary compromise to prevent all out war. Also, the kindred of the city know who they are and respect and fear them in equal measure. Harpy: Brujah A reward for the loyalists among the Camarilla. The loyal Brujah would spread the benefits of being Camarilla while condemning the Anarchs. With all the fiery speeches and passion that the clan is known for. Keeper of Elysium: Toreador Inherited by Toreador's childer. They would know the requirements of the position intimately. The respect given to their Sire will help as they transition into the role. Herald: Banu Haqim (childe) Since the Gangrel seems to care only about the welfare of the city, they would use the Banu Haqim to make sure their decree are spread to the other Kindred. Scourge: Lasombra While the power stuggle for princedom is decided, the Camarilla populace would need common enemy to rally behind. The Anarchs, Caitiff and Thin-blooded make easy targets. Anarchs would be discouraged from entering Camarilla territories. While the Caitiff and Thin-bloods would be shown no mercy. Who better to put fear into the hearts of kindred than those that wield the shadows. A Primogen seat would be offered for good performance. Primogen: Toreador: To put themselves on equal footing with the Ventrue. Using this as a platform for later power moves. Banu Haqim (Sire): For backing the political move of making a Gangrel prince and promote good relations. Ventrue: To appease the Ventrue that lost their position as Seneschal. Malkavian: A Ventrue pick, since the Toreador would bring in the Banu Haqim. Both were friends of the late Prince. It is highly likely they would support the Ventrue in a power struggle. Against those who would tarnish the Prince's legacy. While not explicitly stated, it is implied they are both older and more powerful kindred. Lasombra: The Gangrel's wild card. They are not oblivious to the machinations of the Blue Bloods and the clan of the Rose. Having an unknown variable in the Lasombra would shake up the status quo. Also it makes the otherwise dull meetings more entertaining :) Excluded: Nosferatu: They have mostly stayed out of politics. Tremere: Unknown quantity that would be monitored. Caitiff Thinbloods Anarchs.
Something that should definitely be considered is the figurehead for the power behind the throne. For example, a Nosferatu who has seized power after the last prince was killed and who has many enemies might be wise to place a more... palatable... face upon the throne while they pull the strings from the shadows, watching, protecting, and using the innocent neonate as bate to lure in their enemies while they feed the young prince all the secrets he needs to be an imposing presence far beyond what any can understand for one of his experience... And the real game is the cold war between the old guard trying to figure out what is going on, and the shadow clan operating in the background trying to replace them one by one with more puppets, leaving the player to get caught in the middle of a situation they don't even see, thinking the prince is the real concern upon which they need to focus as they contend with the more open enemies of the throne such as hunters, anarch uprising and the sabbat.
The way I organised a post-coup relations between important figures in a city I'll be running campaigns in- in which ironically, the prince achieved his position by sheer luck, being in the right place at the right time: Previous prince was supported by two clans: Nosferatu who estabilished themselves strongly in the city under his reign and with his help, and his own clan which was Ventrue. But that was a Californian city and the prince miscalculated during a power play against anarchs, so an anarch rebelion with support from some Camarilla clans took him down. But anarchs were also in the middle of a war with Sabbat, who were pretty strong, so they couldn't stop what remained of the Camarilla from electing a new prince, which went something like this: - Nosferatu primogen felt like the other clans betrayed Camarilla and cut all contact, leaving this (in their mind) new organisation - Ventrue, who just lost their prince and nearly half their numbers slaughtered in that coup, and were threatening to make their own, separate Camarilla 'government' with the Nosferatu if the new prince won't come from their clan - Representatives from anarchs, including a Malkavian primogen who recently left camarilla and joined them (allegedly after foreseeing that the prince would fall), who wanted to make sure the new prince won't go against them and will support them against the Sabbat instead - Toreador primogen and their clique, who remained neutral during the conflict but met some disobedience as some toreadors from under her command joined anarchs in killing the prince regardless. She wants to avoid having a new prince that'd support those rebelious sorts, preferably become a prince herself (But of course she doesn't openly consider these malcontents traitors) - Tremere primogen, who likewise remained neutral but unlike Toreador was able to reign in his clan to the point where blood magic wasn't used a single time during the coup. Everybody expected him to make a grab for power and become a new prince, but he didn't do that. - Gangrel primogen. Due to Sabbat dominating the countryside their clan either joined them, joined the anarchs, or left the region. Nobody cared about their opinion. What ended up happening, was that the one selected for the position of a new prince was the single Ventrue who participared in the coup despite not being a member of the anarchs- in fact, almost nobody knew where he came from, it was just pretty obvious they're not with the Sabbat as he was quite passionate about stomping them out of the city and Tremere primogen claimed to know him and know he's not with them. Main argument for his election was that he fulfilled Ventrue demands on a technicality without being their primogen's puppet (Nobody voiced that opinion, of course). After Anarch representatives and Malkavian primogen supported him for obvious reasons, Tremere primogen supported him for unknown reasons (Hoping to easily control one so inexperienced in politics, thus being in power while in case of complete Camarilla failure escaping with his head intact), and Gangrel primogen supported them, but nobody cared about their opinion. With only Toreador primogen strongly opposing his election, he thus became a new prince, and one year later that's the political powder-keg players are entering. Why is it a powder-keg? Well, it turned out against all expectations the new prince isn't a Tremere puppet, so he (unofficially) lost his strongest supporter.
Hi Primogen! loved the videos. thanks for this one :P I wanted to ask about the "how to play" type of videos, would you make a How to play: Hecata? or maybe a How to play: Sabbat??? i think it would be awesome.
Alright, here's my answer to the City of Bellspast exercise (this was fun): THE PRINCE The Toreador is in the most optimal position to be Prince. She is a master at maintaining social face, and has fingers in everyone's pies. She has amassed rumors and secrets on everyone in the city, and uses these against them. She keeps close to the previous administration: the Ventrue, Malkavians, and Nosferatu. Though the Ventrue wish to take her place, she knows how to stroke their egos and "defer to them for an opinion." The Old Boys Club feel as though they are the ones who are *really* running things. The Prince often listens to their advice more than the Primogen Council's. OTHER POSITIONS From there, everything falls into place. The Ventrue retain their positions as Sheriff and Seneschal. The Keepers of Elysium are the Prince's two childer. She is grooming them to become Princes of nearby cities. THE PRIMOGEN COUNCIL The Council is really there to manage the day-to-day business of the city, and serves as a judicial branch which defers to the Prince for final verdicts. Basically, they do the grunt work the Prince doesn't want to deal with. The Prince rules that to have a seat on the Council, a Clan must have 3 or more members within the city (of course, she restricts the right to Embrace heavily). Therefore, the Council is comprised of the following: - One Brujah, who serves as liason to the Anarchs - The first Lasombra to have arrived in the city - One Toreador (one of the Prince's childer) The Prince has also made some exceptions. The Ventrue Seneschal leads the Council meetings and reports back to the Prince, making him nominally on the Council. One Malkavian can listen and voice his opinion, but has no voting power. THE SHERIFF & HOUNDS Underneath the Ventrue Sheriff, the lone Gangrel and the Banu Haqim serve as Hounds, and they have become allies. The Gangrel gathers intel from the Nos on goings-on in the city, and the Banu Haqim are hired to take care of any issues. New Kindred to the city would think the Banu Haqim and the Gangrel are the Sheriffs, and not the Ventrue. The Hounds crack down on all Thinbloods, and keep a watchful eye on the two Caitiff. Unfortunately, the Ventrue gets all the credit, though if things go south, he can call on the police or the city council to sweep up any messes. I'm interested to see how other people answer 🤔
This made me think. I was kind of defaulting to the primogen being the leader of the clan. I think this is true sometimes (for my city, the Nosferatu, Tremere, Ventrue), but not in others (Brujah and Toreador). The Nosferatu might be a little bit more loose
In a game I want to run The prince was going to be the last elder in the city, and everyone knows it's only a matter of time until he succumbed to the Beckoning so the coterie would be able to throw in with one of the people gunning for the prince's seat.
