The Ordo Dracul work tirelessly to improve the Kindred condition. Or at least, their Kindred condition. They pursue the Mysteries of the Dragon, ways to understand and reshape basic elements of what it means to be a vampire. In building them, we wanted to show that not only does the Order succeed at beginning to transcend vampirism, they learn plenty of weird secrets along the way.
Each Mystery explores a particular facet of vampirism. Coils of the Dragon change that facet, transcending ordinary limits. Scales of the Dragon are the fruits of long experiments in the Mysteries, procedures that build on the Coils for strange and frightening effects.
The approach is based on the many Coil-overhaul forum discussions. In fact, the author who did the original draft of the Mysteries was recruited from the forums… so this is an interestingly collaborative moment for the dev team as a whole.
We’ll look at the Mysteries in just a moment. Before that, let me provide a brief Blood and Smoke status update.
Gen Con was amazing. I had my development draft of the book at the Onyx Path booth, and lots of people stopped by to read and ask questions. Some really pored over it, which was immensely flattering. The Onyx panels also all went great. In general, it was the mix of exhausting and invigorating that Gen Con should be.
Coming back, I’ve been pushing deep into Blood and Smoke. It needs a few words here and there, but mostly it’s undergoing extensive polish. I’m hugely excited about this book, and when you get it, I want you to be as excited about it as I am. Dunno if I can get it perfect, but I’m sure as hell trying.
I spent a good chunk of today doing art notes. We’ve already sent the signature characters and scenes for the clans and covenants out. Now, I’m preparing notes for the cover, chapter, and interior illustrations. That’s more work than it sounds, especially when you’re as determined to get it right as I am.
Now, without further ado, the Mysteries of the Dragon.
Please don’t copy and paste the content. Link to this blog instead, as I sometimes make small changes to the public drafts.
That said, we are extremely late in the game, with the book going to the editor next week. So heavy changes aren’t likely to be practical.
Comments
26 responses to “Preview: Mysteries of the Dragon”
From the 2-dot Coil of the Ascendant power, Warm Face:
“Before she can overcome the sun a Dragon must first make herself as she was when she
walked beneath it. The Blush of Life now lasts 24 hours, instead of just one scene. The
Dragon still requires blood and slumber to restore lethal and aggravated wounds.”
Why is the second sentence there? Why wouldn’t the Dragon need blood to heal lethal and agg damage? It reads like there’s a missing sentence in the middle along the lines of “When the Blush of Life is active, the Dragon heals 1 point of bashing damage every 15 minutes.”
Ah, relic of an old draft. That should be removed.
There’s a reference to researching a Scale being a breaking point against Humanity 5, but under GMC rules, there is no longer a hierarchy of sins so the level of Integrity wouldn’t matter, does Humanity put that back or is the reference in error?
Humanity has levels. It’s not quite a Hierarchy of Sins, so much as a fairly robust series of examples that you’re encouraged to customize, but breaking points have levels as opposed to modifying Resolve + Composure.
*nod* Okay, makes sense.
does Leash The Beast work on Stir The Beast?
How long does Sanguinary Invigoration last?
Mass Embrace says “Like a single Embrace, this costs a Humanity dot.” Except its prerequisite is The Vast Dynasty, which makes it so a single Embrace does not, in fact, cost a Humanity dot.
I clarified it in the public doc.
Cool. I forgot to mention I really like the Scales of the Dragon. It’s one thing to be told the Dragons are basically mad scientists and do all sorts of experimentation on the vampiric condition, but it’s another when this translates into actual game effects.
On to another subject: the Mysteries of the Ascendant and of the Wyrm are pretty similar to the old Coils of Banes and of the Beast. With the Coil of the Beast having been much more significantly altered, granted. But the Mystery of the Voivode doesn’t really map to the Coil of Blood. (At most, you could say Sanguinary Invigoration has similarities to Blood of Beasts.)
Care to comment? Did you decide you didn’t care for a repeat of the “bottomless crimson fountain”? Or will additional Mysteries be introduced eventually? (I can’t help but notice you mention Dracula “enduring ages without blood”, despite the fact that there isn’t any equivalent to Blood Seeps Slowly. Of course, Dracula is also described as “never succumbing to the Beast”, and that’s not exactly what the Coil of the Wyrm does…)
This is only a small sampling of potential Coils, they are in no way finite. Players are encouraged to create custom Scales and Coils and embrace the experimental nature of the Ordo.
As for additional canonical Mysteries, only time will tell.
The poring coming across as flattering rather than creepy obsessive is a moral victory. It was worth the time!
I would add an optional clause about forgoing the Chance Rolls on Mass Embrace to create a brood of Larvae, but I guess they’re a pretty optional rule in and of themselves.
Other than that, this is pretty Aces. It really gives the Dragons something to compete with Blood Magic that they didn’t have before.
…Also, you gave the Dragons Heart of Darkness. 😀 😀 😀
It’ll be interesting to see how these work in play. I really, really like Coil of the Ascendant. Were Scales inspired by the alchemy discipline (can’t recall the name off the top of my had) in the Ordo book? I only discovered it recently, and I think this is a nice way of tying that concept more directly into the Ordo’s magic.
Another thing I like? That you can still use the Ordo’s wacky titling scheme with these.
is there a problem with the link??
i cant see the file, only a gray screen with the title Mysteries of the Dragon (Blood and Smoke) (public).docx
I’m not seeing any problem. Do you maybe have something blocking JavaScript?
One thing about the heart removal power. How do you put it BACK? This is conspicuous by its absence.
Chuck yourself into a fire and wait to regenerate?
Actually: is a vampire completely impossible to kill while his heart is removed? It talks about destroying the body. So if you take a walk in the sun and completely fill your Health track with aggravated damage, you’re just going to turn into dust and then come back after your normal length of torpor?
Pretty much, the main body can be obliterated completely, so long as the heart remains they’ll return from it after an interval of Torpor. But, as the Scale says, if the Heart is destroyed it doesn’t matter how hearty the Vampire’s main body is, they die instantaneously.
“…if the heart is…” “…how hearty the vampire…”
I see what you did there.
Another extended Intelligence + Medicine roll. I’ve updated the doc.
Oops, sorry, wrong reply.
Another extended Intelligence + Medicine roll. I’ve updated the doc.
Lets see, Mystery of the Voivode, Mass Embrace, and Heart Removal? I want to play this *now* 😛
I have a question regarding the (incredibly awesome) Heart Removal Scale:
It says that you can’t regain Vitae by feeding… Does that mean that you can’t transform mortal blood into Vitae, or that you can’t get vitae at all by drinking?
I mean, could you gain Vitae by drinking the already enhanced blood of another vampire?
And another question: the Peace With the Flame coil… Is the synergy with Resilience automatic? Do you always get this damage reduction if you have both Peace With the Flame and Resilience, or is that a modification of the activated power of Resilience? It isn’t very clear.
Heart Removal stops the vampire from gaining Vitae by drinking it, they must rely on what they have left in their veins.
Peace within the Flame synergizes with the passive function of Resilience, it’s automatic.