Chimerical Realm

 New Year, New Character Day 7 Thousand Year Old Vampire Thousand Year Old Vampire (TYOV) is a different kind of game than any of the others I've done so far for this Challenge .  It's not a traditional table top roleplaying game, but rather a solo journaling one. It's an intensely personal game of memory and loss, seen through the eyes of an immortal vampire as they navigate the long centuries. I've played a few games of TYOV, and I have to admit that the game affects me in ways that few other RPGs can hope to match. I'm actually rather annoyed and frustrated that I never conceived of this idea, but I still have nothing but great admiration for Tim Hutchings and what he managed to accomplish.  Given it's unusual nature, character creation is similarly unique. There's no list of skills or abilities, and there's no way to "optimize" a character or worry about making the wrong decision. This is the story of your  character, however you conceive ...

Thousand Year Old Vampire is a Solo Roleplaying game, in which you chronicle the centuries of existence as one of the undead. It was launched as a Kickstarter on October 24 th , 2018.   As part of the Kickstarter campaign, a set of playtest rules were included with the campaign. The following Actual Play was based on these playtest rules. The story follows the existence of Roman politician Lucius Casius from the end of the Republic till the Italian Renaissance. I do not wish to spoil too much about the game, or the playthrough below. I will simply say that Thousand Year Old Vampire was a unique and impactful game; something many games strive for, but few succeed. If you are discovering this on or before November 15 th , 2018, I strongly urge you to support the Kickstarter here . If afterwards, look for the game on drivethrurpg.

Welcome back. In the last post, Lucius went, well, let’s be honest, a little mad. But, perhaps it was for the best, as it drove him to reconnect with Aurelia, and the two reuniting. If not as lovers, at least as friends. I feel time needs to pass, so I set this in the 15 th Century. The Italian Renaissance is in full bloom Let’s see what happens next. I roll a 5 and a 3 , giving me a 2 . This leads me to event 71. An Immortal Character has been destroyed by Mortals. How did you come to find out about this? What did you lose? Create a Skill based on a Memory. Create an Immortal if necessary. There are four possible contenders for this. Semnai (1), Aurelia (2), Antenor (3), or Marcus (4). I roll a d4 and get a 2 . Aurelia and I spend the next few centuries together, as companions and friends. We are eventually discovered, though, by hunters. She urges us to fight back, I insist we flee. She follows me, but so do the hunters. She is caught alone one night, and destroyed. In...

Welcome back. When we last left the game of Thousand Year Old Vampire , Lucius was wandering the back roads of early medieval Europe disguised as a friar, both preaching heresy and feeding from the faithful. I feel like a time jump is coming, but I want to wait and see what prompts I get. I was last on prompt 51. Using that as a base, I roll a d10 and get a 7 . I then roll a d6 and get a 2 . Subtracting the results of the d6 from the d10, I get 5 . I add this to my current prompt of 51, and end up at 56. You begin a fantastic construction which puzzles the Mortals around you. What is it made of? Give a hint as to its purpose. Lose a Resource, gain the Skill “Visionary.” Oh, no. No, no, no. The only Resource I have is my Diary, and that is the only thing reminding me of the good years with Pelias. Damn it. I don’t think I can express how much I want to reroll, but, fine. Diary is lost. I settle down in a small town in Cisalpine Gaul, just outside of Turin. I begin work on an o...

Welcome back to the play through of Thousand Year Old Vampire . When we left off , the vampire Lucius was living in relative peace with his lover Pelias in the bustling city of Constantinople, sometime in the 4 th Century. Our last event was number 23, and Lucius had become something of a theologian. Let’s see what befalls him now. I again roll a d10 and a d6 for 10 and a 5 . Subtracting the results of the later from the former, I get a 5 , which leads us to event 28. A long dead Mortal Character returns. What do they want from you? How have they survived death? You only recognize them if you still have a related Memory. Check a Skill. There are two dead Mortals in my past, Manius and Marcus. I roll to see which one has returned and get a 2 , for Marcus. One night, a stranger grabs me on the street, a large, brutish man. He claims to know me, and desperately asks for my aid. He speaks of Rome, the once glorious City, and long nights we spent together there. I do not kn...

Welcome back to the next part of my playthrough of Thousand Year Old Vampire by Tim Hutchings. In the last post , we left Lucius alone and lost in the wilds of Greece, having fled the city of Rome from the wrath of his ex-lover and newly created spawn, Aurelia. When I started this game, I had absolutely no idea what to expect, but so far it’s been a pretty thrilling ride, even if some of the events are, honestly, pretty upsetting. At least a couple of decades have gone by, but we’re going to play a little fast and loose with the time here. I’ll narrow it down a bit based on what happens in the next couple of prompts. As a reminder, each prompt has a number associated with it, and Lucius is currently on 10. To determine the next one, I roll a d10 and a d6, and subtract the results of the d6 from the d10. This number is then added to the current count, with negative numbers moving things backwards. This time I roll a 10 and a 4 , for 6 . Added to the current count, and I’m brought ...

Now that my character and his background are complete , I’m ready to start playing Thousand Year Old Vampire . Despite the name, there’s no official “time line” of the game, it could last several thousand years or a few decades. The rules recommend that you link various events and times based on what seems the most appropriate. I imagine the first handful of events will all be linked to Lucius’ first nights as a vampire. I open the book (well, ok, PDF) and go to Event 1 and get the following prompt: You are overcome by blood frenzy and destroy someone close to you. Kill a Mortal Character, record an Experience about it. Make a Mortal if needed. Take the skill “Bloodthirsty” I have three major Mortals in Lucius’ life. I’m not sure which would be the best victim for my frenzy, so I decide to roll a die. It could be Manius (1), Aurelia (2), or Marcus (3). I roll a d3 and get 1 for Manius. I hid in the depths of my cellar, hiding from my friends, my slaves. Myself. The night ...

I recently stumbled across a new Kickstarter, Thousand Year Old Vampire by Tim Hutchings. It’s a solo game in which you chronicle the millennia long story of a vampire, and their struggles to retain the memory of who they were and what they have done. As someone with a bit of a thing for Solo vampire games (like this one, or this one, or this one, or, hell, I really need to finish this one. ), this concept is pretty much the embodiment of why the hell didn’t I think of this combined with of course I’m fucking backing it .   Seeing that it includes a playtest version of the rules, I pretty much have to try this out. So, I’m starting a new Actual Play. Of course, as I will be using the playtest rules, certain things may differ from the final version. The game itself is something of a creative writing exercise in many ways. You create your character, as well as the circumstances which lead to your embrace as a vampire. After that, you use dice to determine what events b...