Concerning NPCs

[Storyteller]

There will be PCs and NPCs played by the Storyteller. Functionally, there will be little difference in the two, as the PCs and NPCs will both have their own agendas.

There will be two kinds of NPCs. One are the named NPCs. These will be listed, along with any PCs, in the RI Personalities thread (here: https://rhodeislandbynight.rpg-board.net/t42-ri-personalities#68 ). The other will be unnamed NPCs, the bartenders, receptionists, and street urchins of the world. Named NPCs must be played by the Storyteller. Unnamed NPCs can be utilized by the players if they are doing benign things like delivering drinks, sending visitors in to see someone, or anything else along those lines. If you need anything more than that, see the Storyteller. The one exception is the ghouls of your PC. Those can be played by you.

[Storyteller]

Concerning ghouls of PCs: Let's try and ramp back the use of ghouls. Ghouls are for the most part mindless slaves to the drink (in this case, vitae). This doesn't mean they're useless, but in the presence of their domitor, ghouls' senses are so overwhelmed by the animal desire to serve that they're not very good at doing much of anything in the presence of the hero they worship. Ghouls have been known to kill other ghouls if they think the other ghoul is standing between them and the attentions of their domitor. It's not a rational reaction, and is a chemical reaction from the vitae. Obviously there will be some variation in ghoul attitudes, but I'm more interested in developing the PCs, rather than their ghouls. Ghouls are also generally not as good as can be believed at running errands, as they want to be as close to the domitor as is allowed at all times. The more powerful the vitae (the lower the PC's generation) the worse the ghoul is going to be at separating from the domitor.

This is not to say that the ghoul has to come everywhere with you. It's perfectly acceptable to send the ghoul off hunting for your dinner, or leave him/her at home while you go out. You're the boss, you make the rules. It's very much like owning a dog. This is why abandoning ghouls is so bad - they're totally unreasonable, and will spread your business all over town looking for you, because they're addicted to you, the PC. Unhealthy much? Oh yes.

Finally, I'm reserving the right to take control of ghouls in certain situations. If they feel they may be getting let go, or being replaced, they're not going to take that lying down. Even if that's not your intention. And they might go behind your back and do something you weren't expecting. So while you can control the ghouls sometimes, be aware that your servant is not always your friend.