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I have decided to attempt my first campaign. Going through several games, I figured it would be fun to attempt a Vampire campaign.

But i have some questions. First, the combat system. It seems... rather easy to get killed. How can I avoid this happening to my players?

Also, items and purchasing them. I've only been able to find weapons, but none have a cash value. Should I just give my players what they want? Or is there a good system to use for them to earn their equipment?

The simple answer is: You don't. It's not your job, and it doesn't fit in with the genre. Keeping their characters alive is the players job. And that leads into the more complicated part of the answer - understand that there is a difference between not killing the player characters and keeping them from being killed.

Not killing player characters in combat is actually really easy - simply never force them into a fight with opponents that are ready, willing and able to kill them. Note that this doesn't mean that PCs should never get into combat with opposition that meets all three conditions - but you, as the Storyteller, should never force such an encounter on the PCs. Let the players have a decent amount of leeway in which battles they pick, and give them enough information to make intelligent choices. But let them live with the consequences of making poor decisions. (This doesn't mean giving them an effective veto of each fight as it occurs - if the PCs antagonize a really powerful force to the point where it comes gunning for them, so be it - put the players should have had a way of knowing that if they didn't have their characters back off, they were making trouble for themselves.)


Don't get too hung up on stuff. Note the Resources level of the character, and if it makes sense for them to have it, they can likely have it, or get it without too much trouble. And remember that you're playing a contemporary game - so if you really want to know how much something costs, just look it up on the Web.

Interesting, rare and regulated gear can be a rich source of interactions in a Vampire game. After all, you're dealing with people who can't normally go out during daylight hours - even something as getting an oil change can be tricky under such circumstances, let alone getting a hold of weapons. If your players look to be trying to solve all of their challenges with exotic gear, simply say they can't get it.

But in the copy of Vampire that I have (granted, it's old) there isn't even a section for gear on the character sheet. There's a reason for that.

You got it right: getting killed is easy in Vampire. In contrast to DnD, the players should try to avoid battle (why risk to lose immortality?) or at least make sure they go into it completely prepared.

Having said that, if i want to make a battle challenging i make sure the opponents are hard to kill (fortitude + Stamina) rather than make them deal a lot of damage. Make sure your players understand the importance of healing every round, of buffing their stamina and of splitting their dice pools in order to dodge along with attacking. These are pretty easy rule-wise and they help to keep a player alive for longer.

As for weapons, Lyger is right: if the game is contemporary, just look the prices up in the web. If they have the right contacts (which is after all a starting background) or if they simply know how to order through the web, they can acquire weapons at the current prices.

Still, if you are looking for a combat heavy game i would suggest Werewolf which is just as atmospheric. Vampires are selfish, and as such they are rarely glad to go into combat prefering instead to use traps, intrigue and minions. Sure, you can force combat upon them, but it is risky.

Keep the questions coming for everything you may need!

Concerning V:TM the most important difference to other classical RPGs are what's the most valuable thing and the least valuable thing your character has.

In D&D for example your gold or your magic items can be your greatest treasure and your life is maybe not _that_ important because there's always a good cleric which can resurrect you in the next capital city.

In V:TM your resuorces are not that important.
Even time is of no great matter. Hey, you are immortal. Who cares about a few more decades? Or a few more minions wasted in some fight?
But your (un)life on the other hand is the greatest treasure you have.
You want to protect it as much as you can. At least once you have lived a few ten or hundert years.
Younger vampires are maybe a little more selfdestructive.
So it's the players job to work, plan and plot carefully and without haste.
Who care's about if your oponent dies today or in 50 years?
Or wait... why kill him at all? Why not bloodbind him or her? Or, or, or...

And then there are those situations where the real actions takes place and things are dangerous and hasty.
This is when you pull al the triggers you prepared and where you bring in your minions (especially during the day). Or - depending on your characters clan and concept - where you embrace the beast and the predator inside of you and gather all the magic and bloodpower you've got to strike your foces damn bad with the unholy and unnatural force you are.

*smile* Remindes me of the good old times when I played my overpowered badass citygangrel. It was a LARP character which had evolved over a few years.
He belonged to covered ops Sabbath pack that infiltrated local Camarilla structures. Until another Sabath pack killed most of his pack. *grins*
You might be able to imagine what happens when an almost almost 100 year old vampire with mid to high ranks of fortitude, potency, promethean, obfuscate and celerity and a little history of diablery (correct in English) goes hunting the murders of his "child" and "family".
I'd like to continue his hunt one day. Maybe more a good idea for a story than a LARP.

Ah - but how about the story OF the LARP? It sounds interesting.

Yes, make a new thread and post it! Or try this one (favorite vampire characters):
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1564
or this one (about Larping):
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1184&start=15