Latest / Story Games / Episode 26: Thousand Year Old Vampire pt 4
Transcript
- 26 Podcast TYOV Ep 4: Friends and welcome back to Story Games, a podcast all about your favorite narrative-driven games. My name is Momo and I will be your host. Today we are playing More Thousand Year Old Vampire. Things are starting to heat up, things are starting to get interesting, and I'm so excited to see where this game takes us. Without further ado, here is More Thousand Year Old Vampire. Hello, Heart of the Junicorn friends, and welcome back to another episode of Thousand Year Old Vampire. We are back to play with our vampire once again. We're gonna see what horrifying shenanigans she gets up to. boy, it's been a lot. To recap, our character Guinevere wakes up as a vampire, having been turned a vampire by her wannabe fiancé Dimitri, who never actually becomes her fiance because she hates him now because she turned him or he turned her into a vampire. Yes. She and her cousin Alice flee their town. Where they find a cult that offer basically to take care of them both. little known to poor Guinevere, they had ulterior motives and they actually turned Alice into a horrifying snake creature, which is not ideal. Alice is now being possessed by the spirit of an old god named Balthazar, and she's like snake woman, and she's off creating havoc in the name of this cult. which again, not ideal. However, we did meet an ally. We have met Charlotte, who is an immortal that helps us by kind of taking the burden of the cabal off of us. and we learned camouflage in exchange, so we can kind of hide ourselves from this cult, this cabal that's been kind of following us. And now we're gonna see what we get up to next. I will say a quick disclaimer: I'm going to switch up the way I'm playing really quick. I am realizing that this is taking me a very long time to play through, which is the intended purpose. This is the way you're supposed to play the game. But for the sake of being able to finish this series in a timely manner, I'm going to speed things up a bit. That is to say, I am going to write a lot less and I'm going to speak a lot more. I'm going to kind of talk through what I want to happen to the camera, write down maybe some bullet points, and then move on to the next thing. So we are still having a full and complete experience while playing this game. I'm just going to speed up my process a little bit so we can finish this entire series and you can see what happens to poor Guinevere. With that being said, let's get into the gameplay. So to recap, we are going to roll our dice, and for a positive number, we will move forward, and for a negative number, we will move backward. So we're gonna roll our dice, and I got eight and five. Eight and five. Doot doo doo doo doot. So eight minus five, five, six, seven, eight is three. We're going to move backwards three spaces. Or three prompts, I mean. Okay, let me find out where I was. One. Two, three. That doesn't make sense for what I'm doing. Okay, I'm gonna do one more time. One more time, do over. I'm keeping this one. Okay, to recap, we're going to roll our dice for a positive number. Or we're going the my god, kill me. To recap, we are going to roll our dice. We are going to subtract a D6 from a D10. And if the number is positive, we will move forward that many prompts. And if the number is negative, we will move backward that many prompts. So I'm gonna take my dice, I'm gonna roll them. I got A, C, 9 minus 4 is 5. So we are going to move backwards 5 prompts. So we were on number eight. So one, two, three, four, five. A loved one discovers your condition and works to help you. Create a resource which represents their assistance. Create a mortal character if none are available. So we do have some mortal characters to choose from. This is gonna be a little bit strange because we did flee our town. Okay, let me think for a second. Okay, I have an idea. I have an idea. So Here's my idea. I think that Princess Sabine finds us on the road. Maybe we are traveling to our next location, and Princess Sabine intercepts us somehow and she recognizes our horse. And she recognizes the horse and she calls out and she's like, my god, you disappeared. Like, where did you go? And maybe our character's trying to like hide, she's trying to be cagey, but maybe Princess Sabine notices our blood-red eyes. And she's like, my god, you're a vampire. You're an immortal. You're a monster. And we're like, yes, but it's been complicated. and maybe Princess Sabine, because she is kind. I think I actually have written down she is a friend, naive, and kind-hearted. So maybe because of that, she wants to help us. she wants to help us with our situation and she wants us to come back home. But in order to do that, she has to help us hide and help us conceal our vampiric nature. So maybe she agrees to, ooh, okay, the resource. She agrees to give us a pair of opera glasses that are very shaded, like shaded opera glasses that we can kind of hold in front of our eyes. So whenever our eyes are really red, we can kind of hide behind them. That is going to be the resource that we get. And yes, we're going, she's gonna take us back home and she's gonna try to hide us. And I think that is how I want to do that prompt. So I'm gonna write down some bullet points and I'm gonna write down the little thing we got, and then that will be that prompt. Okay, so here's what I've written down. We've got plus resource Sabine's glasses. I've got Sabine finds me on the road, wants me to come back home, notices my blood-red eyes, says she'll commission a pair of shaded opera glasses for me, and takes me back home, promising to help me conceal my identity. So now we have to write a memory and where is this memory going to slot? here, we'll put it in memory one. That one that one fits. Okay. So Okay, so I wrote down under I am Guinevere, lady in waiting to Princess Sabine of Wales, born in the 14th century. I am an ambitious woman with many suitors. I wrote, Sabine helps me conceal my vampire nature by gifting me a pair of shaded opera glasses. Nice. And then I'm going to write down the opera glasses in my resources. Opera glasses. And now we're just gonna move on to the next prompt. And that is how we'll play the rest of this game is we're gonna zoom through it. Okay, sounds good. So back to the prompt list. I also wrote down which prompt I'm on so I don't forget because I had to search last time. So we're gonna run a keep track of that this time. Six minus four is two, so we're going to move forward two spaces, one and two. Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh. You murder someone you love or respect rather than let them expose you. Kill a character, check a skill. If you have no living characters, kill no one and create a beloved mortal character who you have betrayed. okay, I have an idea. Okay, here is how I think I want this to play out. So we are in our hometown one day, and we are kind of on the outskirts and we're trying to hunt. We're trying to find someone to kill so we can drink their blood. and at this point, I think Guinevere has had a taste for human blood, and I don't think she can go back to animal blood. So she is looking for a person to hunt. And I think she successfully finds someone. She finds someone who's kind of on their own. maybe like a a thief or something, like someone who is kind of scurrying around in the darkness and she finds them and she kills them and she starts to drink their blood. And who should stumble upon her but Sir Noel? because he is in love with her and he was following her to try to get to her alone. So they could have like a secret rendezvous, but instead he finds her feasting on the blood of another living creature. So maybe he freaks out and he's like, my god, like what have you done? You're a vampire, like I have to tell everyone. And she's like, You can't, like, you can't expose me. Like, I just fled. I lost Alice. Like, I'm back here. Like, I need to, I need to stay here. I need to be safe. I need to be, you know, I need to protect myself. And he's like, No, you're a monster and you just killed someone. You should be in jail. You should be staked through the heart or something. He's like losing his mind about it. And maybe she goes, No one's ever gonna believe you. Like, who's gonna believe you over me? And he's like, What? And she's like, Because I think you're the one who's a vampire. And I think she like maybe like takes the blood that's like on her and like smears it all over him and is like, Look, you're covered in blood. Like, there's no way anyone's gonna believe you over me. And he's like, That's preposterous. And she's like, Gee and then she maybe she immediately is like, No, guards, there's a vampire, help. And she like, you know, plays it up a lot. And she's I've been attacked by a vampire. And Cernole is like, What is happening? And she's like, Maybe like guards come eventually, and they do. They believe her over Cernole. And maybe Cernole gets executed. Maybe they stake him through the heart eventually. Maybe he goes on like trial. But I think he she roundabout gets him killed rather than Expose her. And of course, the whole time he's like, No, she's the vampire, she's the vampire, but no one believes him because she's so good at the gossip and strategy. She's so good at twisting words around, and maybe even Princess Sabine backs her up because Princess Sabine's very loyal to her at this point. And I think that is how that plays out. So we're gonna check gossip strategy and we are going to get Cernel killed. Yes. Okay, so I have written down I am out hunting one night when Cernole stumbles upon me. He immediately knows what I am and says I need to be turned in to be put to the stake. I tell him no one will believe him, and I cover him in blood. I call the guards, claiming Cernol is a vampire, and that he attacked me, and then Cernole is arrested and executed. So that is what we have got. So we are going to kill Cernol. I'm just gonna write dead. I'm not sure if I cross him out yet. He may come back as like a ghost or something, so I'm not gonna cross him out yet, but I am gonna say he's dead. And then I am going to check a skill. We've got gossip strategy that is checked. We only have two skills that are unchecked, and that has me a little worried because if we don't get more skills, we're gonna have to start losing resources, and I don't want that to happen. I think I'm going to take the Alice memory and put that in my journal. So I'm going to just kind of write over here journal. And I'm going to close that off. I think I actually do. Do I have a place for memories in my diary? I do, I do. Okay. So instead of copying everything verbatim, I'm just going to write one Alice Memories. And I'm just going to have that in my diary. So our diary can get lost. It is a resource. We can lose it. We can have to get rid of it. But for now, I'm going to write it in our resources. Diary and I think it's going to be an ornate leather journal. And we're going to continue on to the next prompt. I got six and four, so we're gonna move forward two spaces. Your body manifests some trait related to the vampire that created you. How do you become more like them? Create a skill that reflects this. Didn't I get this? I wish I wrote down what prompts I got earlier. That's gonna be a tip for you guys if you're playing this. Write down the number of the prompts that you got. Because I think that was the first prompt we got, wasn't it? Yes, I think so. So we're gonna go on to prompt seven point two. And it says, people see a horror in you that you cannot perceive in yourself. What mark do you possess that you do not know about? Create a mark and a suspicious mortal who has seen it. What name do the people call you when your back is turned? Okay, so maybe the people are starting to catch on to the fact that I'm a vampire. Ooh, maybe the mortal we create is someone related to Cernole who's really angry that we got Cernole killed. And maybe not everyone was on my side when I accused him of being a vampire. but what kind of mark? Maybe like an aura, right? Like just like a darkness that follows me. Something that's almost like imperceptible, but just like a feeling of dread like I evoke a feeling of dread in other people when I approach them. I think that's a good one. Cause that's really hard to hide too. Okay, so I'm going to go to my journal and I'm going to write down we have to create a mark and a mortal character. Okay. So marks, we already have blood red eyes that reflect light like a cat. And I'm going to write down a dark sinister aura that evokes dread in others. And then we're gonna go back to characters. And then maybe Sernole had a brother named Let's do Alan with a Y. A L L Y N. Sernole's brother. And I'm writing suspicious about me. Wonderful. So this prompt isn't going to have a lot of writing to it because it didn't really have much of a writing prompt. but what name do people call you when your back is turned? Ooh. So I think people are starting to notice my dark and sinister aura, so I will write that down. Especially Alan Sternol's brother. And the people of my town begin to call me what? What do they call me? We're in Wales, so maybe like a Welsh word? What's the Welsh word for darkness? gosh, I don't know how to pronounce that. Okay, we're going to pronounce this together. So So we'll show. I don't know if my mouth can make those noises, so I'm going to write that down, and that is what they call me behind my back. They call me darkness. And how do I spell this? It is T-Y-W-Y-L-L-W-C-H. And I'm gonna write down which means darkness. This one doesn't really have an experience besides people calling me stuff, and I'm not sure if that. Counts enough to create an experience for me. So I think I'm actually not gonna write an experience for this one since it was mostly kind of mechanic in nature. So with that being said, we are going to roll again. Okay, I got a five and a three, three, four, five. We're moving forward two prompts. One, two. You develop a system for feeding. What is it? What happens to those who die? Create a skill that reflects this. Yes, we got a skill. That is excellent news. I definitely think I stalk the grounds at night. And we live in a big city, so I think that there's plenty of alleyways and nooks and crannies that I can kind of hide into. and I use my vampire skills to kind of like blend in. I have camouflage so I can really blend into the darkness. And I think I wait until either someone who is like drunk or someone who is also a criminal kind of crosses my path. And then I what do do I kill them? I think I use my feminine wiles actually. I think I maybe lure them into a false sense of security somehow, like hey big boy wanna follow me type thing. I lead them down into an even darker, more isolated alley. That way if they start screaming, no one's gonna notice. and I think I just go for it. I think I maybe try to subdue them, maybe I try to knock them out a little bit beforehand, but maybe not always. I think I mainly just try to get them alone and then I go in for the kill. What happens to them after they die? I think they just die. I think that if I wanted to turn someone into a vampire, it would be a process, kind of like what Dimitri did to me. or what the cabal also kind of did to Alice. Like it's like a process, there's a back and forth. But I think when I hunt people, I think they just die. I think I drain them of blood. It's very weird because there's no blood left in their body. Maybe they shrivel up a little bit. But other than that, I don't think anything weird happens. So. And then the skill I'm going to get in exchange for this. Cause I already put hunting as a skill that I checked, so I'm not gonna put that twice. I am gonna put seduction. That's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna put seduction as my skill. Yes. And then I'm going to write down a little bit about how I do it. Okay, so method for hunting, I wrote, find a drunk or a criminal, lure them into isolation with my seduction, attack, then I leave their lifeless body to be found eventually. Maybe. I'm not as worried about the after part. I'm mostly worried about, you know, the getting the blood part. And I honestly don't think that that has a experience either. especially the way I'm doing it, the way I'm kind of moseying on through this. I think that like an experience comes when something very specific happens. At least that's the way that I'm kind of playing it. So hopefully that is correct. Okay, so we're going to continue on. Alright, we got a three and a seven. So three, four, five, six, seven. We are going to move forward four spaces. One, two, three, and four. So we've got 13, which is my lucky number. Love that. And I think we're actually like really moving up in the timeline now, too. So 13.1. Generations of the same family serve you. This line starts from any living mortal character or from the descendants of a dead mortal character. What bizarre rituals do they tie to their servitude? Lose a resource and create the servitors of the lineage resource. Okay, okay, okay. So yes, now we're kind of moving forward in the timeline a little bit, which is gonna be interesting because the passage of time it moves forward, ever forward. So what mortal character do we still have that's alive? We have Sabine. Ooh, ooh, okay, we have Sabine. So maybe I think maybe we have lived for long enough now that we have seen Sabine, the Princess of Wales, become the Queen of Wales, and then maybe a successor takes her place. And now there is a new generation of people kind of serving the palace, but I remain constant. And maybe it's kind of an unspoken rule that I'm not aging while other people are. And maybe it's kind of like a conspiracy at this point that the royal family is keeping me a secret. and maybe it's to the point even where I don't even leave the palace most of the time unless it's to feed under the guise of nightfall. but I'm kind of maybe becoming more of a recluse at this point because I can't show my face as much because people will be like, isn't that isn't that Guinevere who should have died a long time ago? I think that's kind of how I want to play this out. but the same family serves me. This line starts from any living mortal character. What bizarre rituals do they tie to their servitude? Lose a resource and create the servitors of the lineage resource. Okay. Hmm, br br br br br. Okay, so what resource am I gonna lose? I know I just got the opera glasses, but I think I actually lose the opera glasses because I don't necessarily need them anymore because I'm being kept a secret anyway. So I'm going to lose the opera glasses and I'm going to get servitors. Of the lineage hell yeah and then I'm going to write lose opera glasses gain. servitors of the lineage. And I think I actually do want to play a scene out for this one. so I think the scene that I want to play out is Sabine is on her deathbed, actually. Sabine is on her deathbed and I am at her side, and maybe we're like holding hands or something because she's served me so faithfully her entire life. Like she's kept my secret, or at least tried to. I think maybe the towns people. Know that I'm a vampire, or at least it's like a known secret that I'm a vampire, but it's never been officially stated, and I think that the palace is kind of hiding my identity. but she's served me very well these whole years, and I think there's a scene where she kind of maybe her daughter, or even her granddaughter. No, her daughter. I think her daughter comes in, her daughter who is like maybe in her 40s at this point. or it's medieval, so maybe younger, maybe like 20s. And then Sabine is like, I don't know, how how often did people live into their 60s and the Middle Ages? I'm not sure. but anyway, Sabine's on her deathbed, she's dying, her daughter comes in, and Sabine actually tells her daughter that I am a vampire. And I think that maybe her daughter pretends to be shocked, but knew deep down all along. But her daughter basically is told by Sabine, you must continue on the family tradition of taking care of Guinevere. You cannot Let Guinevere's secret be known. and what strange rituals do they tie to their servitude? Maybe it's a tit-for-tat situation. Maybe part of the bizarre ritual is I actually give them a little bit of my blood in exchange for them serving me so well. So I think maybe that the lineage, this family lineage, are actually not. Full-on vampires themselves, but I think they do have a little bit of vampire blood in them, which makes them even more powerful, which keeps them in power. And I think that is kind of part of it. I think it's like a little back and forth situation. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. And maybe this thing the daughter didn't know. I think maybe the wine that they drink every night, the daughter didn't know that they've actually been drinking vampire blood this whole time. So maybe she is a little bit horrified by that. But then Sabine explains this is how we are so youthful for so long and so powerful. This is how I've lived to 60 or 70 in the Middle Ages, maybe even. and that is kind of like their secret. So I think part of this bizarre ritual is this exchanging of blood. Except it's not exchanging, because I'm not taking their blood. they're just drinking some of mine, which just gives them a little bit of vampire boost. So I'm going to write some bullet points about that, and then I'll come back to you. Okay, so here's what I've written down. Sabine's royal family has served me dutifully all these years. This is because I've been feeding them some of my blood to keep them in power. Sabine's daughter Sibyl did not know about this until now. On her deathbed, Sabine passes the torch to Sybil, and I will write an experience about this. Okay, so I wrote down Sabine passes the torch of caring for me to her daughter, Sybil, and all of her family beyond her. So the whole family takes care of me. And that is going to be the end of that prompt. Alright, that was five prompts in one session, which is way more than I've managed to do before. So I do think I like this method of kind of blowing through the rest of the prompts a little bit quicker. I do think I like that better than really getting into the weeds with all of it. I think it's gonna be more sustainable for me to actually finish this game for all of you. So I hope you don't mind if I'm, you know, speedrunning this just a tiny little bit. I'm still having a great time and I'm still fleshing out my character and having a good, enjoyable experience playing this game. Just going a little bit faster. So let me know what you guys think. let me know what you think of the story that we're telling here with Guinevere. I'm excited to see what happens now that kind of generations are starting to kind of catch up and she's actually starting to feel the effects of being a vampire. Because up until now it's kind of been very like, you know, chronological, very linear, and like, you know, this all happened in the first few months of being a vampire. Well now we're getting into years. So let's see what other kind of shenanigans that Guinevere gets into. It was a very dramatic beginning to her undead life, what with Alice becoming a conduit of Balthazar and whatnot. so yeah, let's see where else this game takes us. Thank you guys so much for watching. I hope you enjoyed it. And if you would like to get a copy of Thousand Year Old Vampire for yourself, you can do so through our website. The link will be in the description box below. Thank you for hanging out with me. I hope you are enjoying this series so far, and I'll see you next time for more Thousand Year Old Vampire. Bye, friends!