Mastering the Vault.pdf

M ASTERING THE V AULT

The Sanguine Seal is a trademark of Alex Gray, used with permission.

The Whispering Vault created by Alex Gray.

M ASTERING

THE V AULT

W RITTEN BY

Nigel Findley with

Chad Brinkley and Mike Nystul

E DITED BY

Aaron Loeb, Mike Nystul,

and Philip Reed

Proofreading by

C OVER AND BACK COVER ART BY

Christopher Shy

I NTERIOR ART BY

Earl Geier, Larry MacDougall,

Dave Mackay, and Thron

P RODUCTION BY

Philip Reed

W ELCOME

After years of waiting patiently, the mate-

rial in this book is finally ready for your next

game of The Whispering Vault . Inside these

pages are:

• GM advice by Nigel Findley.

• A timeline by Chad Brinkley.

• A hunt by Nigel Findley.

• Unbidden as Player Character rules.

• A few adventure hooks.

G AMEMASTERING

T HE W HISPERING V AULT

by Nigel Findley

Gamemastering The Whispering Vault involves some very specific chal-

lenges, not necessarily found in other games. The game brings with it some

characteristic pitfalls into which GMs – new and experienced – find it all

too easy to fall. On the other side of the coin, these same challenges bring

with them some significant rewards that might not be found in other games.

This section discusses some of these pitfalls and ways to get around them,

and provides some specific techniques gamemasters of The Whispering

Vault can use to get the most out of their games.

M OOD

More so than many games, The

Whispering Vault is a game of mood. A

game of Vault lives or dies by how well

the gamemaster – and, secondarily, the

players – build and maintain the mood.

If you look at The Whispering Vault

superficially, there’s not that much

unique about it. “Let’s see,” you might

say, “take elements of horror and fantasy

– with maybe some superhero gaming

tossed in for good measure – add some

extra-dimensional bounty-hunters, and

you’ve got it.” Looked at that way . . .

what’s so special about The Whispering

Vault anyway? Sounds pretty boring, all

in all . . .

But The Whispering Vault isn’t bor-

ing – or, at least, it shouldn’t be. It can be

– and should be – compelling, evocative,

dark (but notably distinct from the many

other “dark” games on the market), even

disturbing . . . and, in a sense, magical .

What is it that sets The Whispering

Vault apart from a game of “whacked-

out bounty hunters on steroids”? Mood ,

pure and simple.

G ENRE

But what mood? It’s time to take a

look at that. What makes up the charac-

teristic mood of The Whispering Vault ?

I S T HE W HISPERING V AULT A

“H ORROR ”G AME ?

Strictly speaking, I’d argue “no.”

(Caveat: This and other opinions

expressed in this article are mine . Not

necessarily those of the publisher, and

not necessarily yours – you gamemasters

and players of the game. Personally, I

think it’s important to remember that.

Your game of The Whispering Vault is

yours , after all – not mine, not anyone

else’s. As long as you’re having fun

doing what you’re doing . . . well, keep

on doing it. What I’m providing you

here are guidelines you can try to

increase the pleasure you get from your

gaming sessions, not hard-and-fast rules,

graven inn stone, specifying precisely

how the game is to be played right . End

of sermon.)

Certainly, there are horrific elements

in The Whispering Vault . Many conven-

tions used in the game are similar –

though generally not identical – to con-

ventions used in horror fiction, cinema

and gaming. There’s the mysterious,

often inscrutable foe, defended by

guardians that are often monstrous.

There are enigmatic, arcane forces at

work – often, forces that the player char-

acters understand only inadequately.

There are elements out of nightmare –

familiar faces concealing hideous intent;

transformation and transmogrification,

until it’s impossible to be sure that any-

thing is what it seems. There are flashes

of brutal violence, inhuman destructive-

ness, pain, loss, death. There are inno-

cents drawn into things beyond their

imagining; and those who consider

themselves predators, suddenly realizing

that they’ve become prey. And, through-

out, there’s the mass of “innocent”

humanity, blissfully unaware of the pri-

mal forces struggling and striving

around them, threatening to shatter their

comfortable worlds and lives forever. All

of these are mainstays of the horror

genre, and key parts of The Whispering

Vault .

But then there are two central con-

ventions of horror that are directly con-

tradictory to the mood of The

Whispering Vault . In the familiar horror

story (or game), the protagonists – the

player characters – are almost always

totally outmatched by the antagonists,

by the opposition. Most horror “heroes”

are everyday types – not heroes (or, at

least, not people who’d ever consider

themselves to be heroes). They’re drawn

into a mystery, usually against their will,

and then almost immediately put in dan-

ger for their lives. The archetypal horror

plot-line is one where the protagonists

have no choice but to pit themselves

against overwhelming odds – a coven of

vampires, a shopping-mall full of zom-

bies, or Great Cthulhu himself – because

the alternative is simply unacceptable.

Death (or worse) for themselves, death

of innocents the protagonists care about,

often the destruction of the human race,

the entire universe, or even the multi-

verse.

Horror heroes generally know

they’re outmatched, too, and that knowl-

edge affects every aspect of their behav-

ior. They know that the only way they

can survive to “win” the conflict – what-

ever it is – is to keep a low profile, to

keep their location and actions, even

their very existence, a secret from the

antagonists. That’s one of the central

challenges of the horror genre: finding

the weakness in the antagonist that

allows the heroes to survive.

Even seemingly “powerful” horror

heroes are actually weaklings when

compared to their foes. The only way the

heroes can survive and triumph is

through stealth, cunning, a healthy

measure of luck, and a knowledge of

how to exploit the foe’s weaknesses.

(Case in point: Van Helsing meets

Dracula at midnight . . . and has care-

lessly left his crucifix at home. Would

you bet on the “powerful” vampire

hunter to survive until dawn . . . ?)

Powerful Protagonists

And that’s a major way in which

The Whispering Vault diverges from the

archetypal horror story or game.

Whatever else they happen to be, the

protagonists, the heroes – the Stalkers –

are not helpless innocents. They’re about

as far as it’s possible to get from “normal

people drawn into something too big for

them.” The Stalkers are heroes – or

maybe “champions” is the better word.

How does this fact affect a Vault

story? Stalkers are going to be driving

the plot to a much greater extent than the

“heroes” in a horror story/game. The

Stalkers are – or should be – agents : peo-

ple who act , rather than people who are

acted upon . Once the Stalkers are

involved – once they’ve answered the

Call – they drive the events of the story.

They should be acting , making things

happen, rather than standing back and

waiting for something else to happen to

them, or around them. (This is as impor-

tant a point from a character point of

view as it is from a story standpoint.

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: