Max Strauss, Prince of LA

I FUCKING KNEW IT !!!

http://www.labynight2013.com/events/ticketed-special-events/blood-betrayal-more-info/


Bitches.

hurrdurr not surprised.

Karavolos wrote:

hurrdurr not surprised.

Pretty much my thoughts. And I imagine nobody else here will be surprised either.

When your character first meets Strauss in Bloodlines, there is a line where he says LaCroix lacks the ability & discretion to be Prince.  When you ask if he wants the job, he laughs and replies, "I aspire not to such lowly heights."  In other words, he has what he considers higher ambitions, either within the Tremere or as the power behind the throne in L.A..  I don't think Strauss would become Prince unless it were a situation similar to Nines; i.e. every other capable leader (that can be manipulated) is dead, and there is no other choice than to assume power just to hold the city together.  Even then, I have trouble believing that Strauss would be caught by such surprise that he doesn't have a candidate ready, who can be convinced to accept the position.

Prince is a sucker's job... you're too busy fending all of the knives from your back to get anything else done.  "Every problem a grain of sand; every night I inherit the desert."  The dialog and voice acting for LaCroix was great; almost every line made you hate the guy... as the developers intended.

Other than that, the game sounds interesting.  It would be cool to be able to attend.  It's been about twenty years since I've been in a Vampire LARP.

I agree with PGM on that. Max is way too smart to become prince himself. He'll always have some powerhungry dumbass ready to stand in the spotlight while he stays in the background and pulls the strings.
I'm evevn not convinced that he's a mere regent in bloodlines. I can easily imagine him being at least the lord for the region, and just pretending to communicate and get orders on the matter of inviting the Tremere pc into the pyramid or removing LaCroix if the player chooses the camarilla ending. Certainly he doesn't want to reveal the true power structure of the clan to outsiders.

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PGM1961 wrote:

When you ask if he wants the job, he laughs and replies, "I aspire not to such lowly heights."  In other words, he has what he considers higher ambitions, either within the Tremere or as the power behind the throne in L.A.

Tip: Not everything vampires say is true.

I don't buy this idea that princedom is desired only by idiots. Humans, in the society that we live today, are compelled, expected and rewarded for being power hungry. Vampires would be even more so. Even a title devoid of meaning and full of responsabilities is still attractive to some only because it is a title.

But prince is not an empty title. Even if one harbors higher ambitions, princedom can be the stepping stone to achieve them. Why would Strauss want to be prince? It can be for a myriad of reasons. Individual ambitions (power, wealth, influence, freedom...), local Tremere ambitions, regional Tremere ambitions... Let's not forget that Strauss belongs to the Pyramid. If his superior sees the empty throne of LA as an opportunity to increase the power and influence of the Tremere Clan, Strauss will be prince, liking it or not.

What sincerely I think? They simply made Strauss the prince without thinking too much about it.

I agree, I think By Night Studios didn't think it through correctly.

Max has no reasons to get the job as a Prince. Even if he is not his own Lord of the Tremere Clan, he's still an Elder who'd rather be the left hand of any given prince, like your dark, secret adviser and shit, than to get the crown. And god knows crowns look bad on bald people. Strauss isn't ambitious as far as I know, he doesn't want neither the prestige nor the fame that comes with power, but he likes to control things and make sure things happen. Except he's far more subtle...

I also do think that if there is one character that survived, regardless of the Bloodlines ending, it's Strauss (along with Jack and Beckett, but those two are canon).

I can't go, because it's on the other side of the world, but also because I've got classes and work and no patience whatsoever with pseudo goth larpers. I might send a minion though.

Camarilla ending.

Claudia wrote:

I agree, I think By Night Studios didn't think it through correctly.

Max has no reasons to get the job as a Prince. Even if he is not his own Lord of the Tremere Clan, he's still an Elder who'd rather be the left hand of any given prince, like your dark, secret adviser and shit, than to get the crown. And god knows crowns look bad on bald people. Strauss isn't ambitious as far as I know, he doesn't want neither the prestige nor the fame that comes with power, but he likes to control things and make sure things happen. Except he's far more subtle...

I also do think that if there is one character that survived, regardless of the Bloodlines ending, it's Strauss (along with Jack and Beckett, but those two are canon).

I can't go, because it's on the other side of the world, but also because I've got classes and work and no patience whatsoever with pseudo goth larpers. I might send a minion though.

I think Strauss is waaay too smart for getting himself into target practice wearing a target T-shirt. Power behind the throne is his style.
You know, I think Strauss would be better Lasombra than he is Tremere.

Many Lasombra want the respect and fame the power gives them. Many Tremere just do "whatever they are asked" by the clan. Strauss is, in this matter, a very credible Tremere.