I want to run a Chronicle - Where Do I Start?

For ages, I've said "Play The Monsters as your first story for Vampire the Masquerade V5." But that's out of date. There's many better options now. I've solicited opinions on Reddit and dug into Reddit posts over the past few years to help you determine the best place for you to start - for you.

I started this article intending to go through all the various paths that you could possibly try. I'm not going to do that. Instead, I'm going to give you an opinionated path to start V5.  I'm assuming sessions will be around 3 hours long - adjust based on the length of your sessions.

Start with New Blood (but don't play all of it)

New Blood

Get it: DriveThruRPG - $7.50 USD

Length: 4-8 hours (1-3 sessions)

Pros: Fantastic introduction to Vampire; starts with a bang; trickles out mechanics as they are needed

Cons: Drags towards the end; very thin pre-made characters

Description (from Renegade Game Studios)

Designed with new Storytellers and players in mind, it features a new story that teaches you to play this new edition of the roleplaying game, a rules reference guide, printable enemy and victim cards, 7 player characters, and a relationship map.

Reddit User Quote: 

"New Blood is super basic without a doubt, but you can run it straight as it is as a new ST for new players and have a good time with it. At least good enough to instill a thirst for more." - Fussel2

My Thoughts

New Blood is the intended path into V5 from Paradox/WhiteWolf. It trickles out the mechanics, themes, and systems of the game. If you've never run Vampire before, if you aren't comfortable with learning from the rules (or this blog), if you (or your players) are new to TTRPGs, if your players don't want to learn from the books - if any of these are the case, I strongly recommend a New Blood one-shot. If you're the sort that really learns well from a core book, that consumes rules like a pro, that has played Vampire before - potentially take a pass, though I think this module has potentially to be really fun for anyone.

New Blood starts with a vivid scene - the player characters trapped in a meat locker with animal carcasses and a dead body. It introduces Hunger quickly, the first time the characters feel the Beast, the Hunger Dice mechanics, and how to roll. It slowly introduces the key mechanics players and storytellers will need to play the game.

My recommended path is to run New Blood up to page 22 (basically until the characters sleep) and then call it. It is a reasonable stopping point that covers most of the compelling content - I think most of what is left really requires players to buy into the pre-made characters and they are pretty shallow - I didn't find the remainder of the story that compelling. I think that you will get the majority of the value out of the first 22 pages - you'll demonstrate what being a new, young vampire is like and the terrible situations that they land in abruptly. And I don't think anyone will want to continue on to create a Chronicle out of these characters - so much of the fun in TTRPGs is creating your characters and telling their stories. 

Then Start Your Chronicle with Something Premade

Once you've played New Blood (or skipped it if you must), look at a Chronicle. To me, you have two really solid options - "Let the Streets Run Red" (starting with Power Prey) or "The Crimson Gutter" (starting with Bring on the Night and continuing on with the rest of Chapter 2 "First Steps"). Both are really solid options for a new Storyteller that wants a pre-made Story.

In either case, you'll want to run a Session Zero - a session before your main session to help define the City; the Coterie; the Player Characters and their relationships; along with Safety Tools.

"Let the Streets Run Red" - "Power Prey"

Get it: In the Source Book "Let The Streets Run Red"

Length: 10-12 hours (3-4 sessions)

Pros: Interesting, original story; introduction to Kindred politics and relationships; good starting story for a new Chronicle, whether custom or pre-written; has follow on stories in Let the Streets Run Red or can feed into Chicago by Night or a custom Chronicle

Cons: Requires the V5 Core Book and Let the Streets Run Red; intended to be set in Chicago, would require changes to set it elsewhere; does not gradually introduce mechanics; minimal guidance for character creation

Description (from Renegade Game Studios)

Power Prey is a Vampire: The Masquerade story influenced by the inversion of hierarchy within vampire society. Characters in Power Prey will see the bottom and top of the societal ladder and ask themselves what they are willing to give up of their Touchstones and Humanity to maintain status and fight their enemies.

Reddit User Quote

"Power Prey introduces players to being a vampire on a nightly basis, and then The Sacrifice thrusts them into Kindred politics, so they're a good opening duo." - alratan (The Sacrifice is the first story in Chicago by Night)

My Thoughts

The story in Power Prey is an interesting one, with different options for solving the key problem presented. It is focussed on the daily "life" of Kindred, with their Touchstones quite centred. It speaks to the relationships between the Kindred and with their mortal former lives, and shows how Kindred need to act to protect themselves and those they care about. You can use it to start your own custom chronicle; to feed into one of the mini-Chronicles in Let the Streets Run Red; or into Chicago by Night. It is intended to take place in Chicago, but it would be movable to any similar-sized and scoped city, either Camarilla or organized Anarch city with some work. Chicago is the flagship city for V5, with three books focussing on it - Chicago by Night, Let the Streets Run Red, and the Chicago Folios. This Story does not require the other two books to function, though they may be helpful.

Power Prey works with Camarilla, Independant, or Anarch characters, and gives some good solid advice on building characters that work with the story. There are elements of Touchstone choices that are mandatory within the Chronicle, and that may make this story not work for all groups. Bad things will likely happen to at least one Touchstone. The Storyteller should look at the character creation advice and talk with the group - this would not be a good option for a group that don't want to explore how the new vampires' former mortal lives are now intersecting with their new vampire lives and the need for secrecy. 

I think the group will come out of this Story with a very strong understanding of who their characters are and what they want. I would expect they would be pumped to transition into the next Story - whether that's something custom or something published, like another Story from Let the Streets Run Red or starting The Sacrifice, the first Story from Chicago by Night.

"The Crimson Gutter" - "First Steps"

Get it: In the Source Book "The Crimson Gutter"

Length: 28-35 hours (9-11 sessions)

Pros: City independent - fairly clearly intended to be North American, but could probably be run most places; a lot of detail on character creation and potential sires, allies, rivals; a long, defined Chronicle that continues on; some story beats that will really set up character choices; very adaptable to the Coterie the players build 

Cons: Requires more Storyteller work than either New Blood or Power Prey as the city and the player character's place in it are less defined; the Storyteller will need to bring the inhabitants of the city to life as they are a little cliched and limited, with small stat blocks and short backgrounds

Description (from Renegade Game Studios)

You’ve leafed through Vampire: The Masquerade. Perhaps you’ve experimented with making a few characters or run a session or two as the Storyteller. The next step is to run a chronicle. That’s where this book comes in. The Crimson Gutter is an introductory chronicle designed to get your characters on the streets. The events of the chronicle showcase a young coterie coming to their own in a divided city. At the start, they’re clueless nobodies barely able to survive night to night. By the end, they have made their reputation in at least one of the factions fighting over the city’s feeding grounds.

Reddit User Quote

"Get The Crimson Gutter. It's a book specifically for new players. It has advice for both the ST and the players, and a chronicle that introduces you to VtM." - Sakai88

My Thoughts

There's a lot here to really like. The Crimson Gutter expects that Vampire is a new experience for both the Storyteller and the Chronicle, so it lays out a lot of expectations and themes that the group can and should explore through the story - feeding, Humanity, Hunger, Kindred politics, the morality and the purpose of Kindred life, and other elements central to Vampire. 

There is also a lot you need to do here to make this a coherent story. There's a lot here and not all of it has the same level of detail or depth that you might want. I think (and Redditors seem to agree) that characters can seem one-note or shallow. Making the City come alive and fit into your chosen location will take more work from the Storyteller than using a pre-made location like Let The Streets Run Red. On the other hand, you can weave this story and these characters into additional stories you want to tell - I think you could be well rewarded by starting with this Chronicle, but you will have to work for it.

Vampire politics are very central to The Crimson Gutter and I really like how it brings in the Church of Caine as an additional element or option. Dealing with the why and the morals of Kindred nature is central to this story and I think that is admirable. 

This story is intended to work for characters that are new or relatively new to being Vampires. There is advice for how to change things if that is not the case, but my strong recommendation is to go with Fledgling characters for new players or new Storytellers.

I think the Crimson Gutter is very solid next step for Storytellers, after New Blood, and think it is a great introduction to building a Chronicle. I would imagine most Storytellers would continue on with the Crimson Gutter's further chapters, potentially mixing in more and more homebrew.

And Then Continue On

You should be set up now to continue on into a fantastic Chronicle, whether that's completing the book you started, jumping into Chicago by Night, creating your own Chronicle from scratch, or grabbing a Story from the other book. 

You should have a decent idea of the mechanics, the flavour, the intention behind a Vampire game. You should have players who are amped up to play their characters. And you should have momentum - just keep it going. Good luck!