About the Salubri.

Salubri bloodline is one of my favourite (with Assamite Clan, of course... But you knew that, right? ).

The Obeah discipline works VERY well... and the female Salubri skins are beautiful (only the 4th still seems too... Malkavian).

I played FN mod months ago, and now I cannot verify it right now, so I must ask: the weakness implemented in FN is a penalty in blood points gained when you drain a human?

I am very curios for future developments (dialogs and Vanilla NPC reactions): roleplay a Kindred believed to be a member of "soul-stealers" should be a real challenge, I think.

Thanks for the compliments on the Obeah discipline, I'm happy someone liked it as much as I did. And yes, the penalty of the Salubri is that the first blood point they would normally get for feeding on a human, they don't get, but they still get the 2nd, 3rd, etc... Feeding on blood packs and rats are normal however. I can't remember if you get the penalty for feeding on willing blood dolls however, I'll have to check. The other weakness of the Salubri is the third eye. It's always closed resembling a thin scare of their forehead, however this nasty scare makes socializing a bit more difficult so it costs more XP to raise their Appearance. When they use Obeah, the scare opens into a bright floating eye which is a violation to the Masquerade.

The bonuses of Salubri are some of the best in my opinion. Not only do they get a bonus vs. frenzy checks, but they also get a fast natural regeneration rate. In most dangerous places in the game it's not wise to walk around with less than 50% health, but with the Salubri, you can save yourself a blood point on Bloodheal by simply waiting a few seconds and healing naturally. Also, I have yet to take damage high enough to induce a frenzy with a Salubri character, basically making them all but immune to frenzy. It's freaking awesome!

As far as future development for the Salubri. I would enjoy creating clan-based quests specific to only THAT clan, much like how we did for the Baali. I would like to do this with every clan (think Clan Quest Mod), but of course this would take a lot of time and I don't know if I have the drive to do something like that. IF there were more demand for more content from lots of fans of TFN, then perhaps that would be the fuel to drive me, but as of now, I just don't think enough people would play it to be worth the hours of work involved. I'm pretty much a one man show now though Malkav certainly helps a lot from time to time, along with various helpings from the community.

Probably a place to start is to draft some ideas for the clan quests. Some could be done entirely without any voice acting, say a quest for the Salubri where another kindred, possibly another Salubri, uses emails and notes left at certain locations to communicate with you, never wanting to place themselves in sight or even to hint at their presence to the Camarilla, or anyone else. Maybe the notes they leave require you to decode them in some way, like written in a substance that isn't visible normally, or they are written in nonsense unless you really READ it.

To what end, though? Perhaps it is better that this Salubri is not at all interested in the local conflict, if they are aware of it at all. Maybe the only reason they want to help you is just that they sired the one who embraced you, and they intend to help you for one purpose - to finish what they started by embracing the one who sired you. That would require an NPC, but by that point, you would know everything you need to, and perhaps they have another reason for not speaking...they simply cannot, like their throat was slashed before their embrace. Maybe you could even make a choice when meeting them, either diablerizing them as expected, or killing them - the first perhaps getting you a dot in Obeah if it is not already maxed, or one of the common disciplines not already possessed by the Salubri, and if you kill them, the benefit would be...eh, I'm not too sure of that. Most I could think of would be a unique item or weapon, but that might take some work.

As for NPC reactions to the Salubri...eh, mostly it is best that most DO NOT know you are a Salubri. If only because the Tremere have pretty much made the soul-stealing bit, true or not, common knowledge to the Camarilla, and thus most within it believe it, or just don't give a damn, and would just throw the unicorn to the Tremere just because. The Anarchs might tolerate one, but that I'm not sure of. But obviously that could be one of the reasons for the Blood Hunt in TFN, perhaps you can find a few notes on the kindred in Santa Monica before leaving it, some of them hinting or outright saying that you are a Salubri or Baali, etc. Some of the others don't really matter in that case, but there could be some saying they would not trust you at all if you are a Setite, or....eh for the rest I've got nothing.

These are good ideas Maxus! The "mysterious" Salubri would no doubt be Silvia's hidden companion. I always had that as the plan from the beginning and I would want this to tie into the clan specific quest for the Salubri character. I do like the idea of keeping this powerful entity hidden using only notes, emails, phone calls with a male voice speaking numbers or something vague or off the wall. Things like that are not only easy to script and create, but also keeps the player guessing who this mysterious companion helping you and Silvia really is. And of course, these extra quests would only be for the Salubri, perhaps even granting the Salubri a haven that only the Salubri can have, like the Baali or Samedi.

Hmmm...

They are actually unique in their way of thinking. Dinsinterest for the Jhyad and disgust for they unliving condition. I think that the weakness of the Clan of the PnP rules (they lose one health level for each Blood Point drunk from an unwilling victim) to be fully apt (for example, in VTMB will remain blood dolls/prostitutes, blood packs and rats).
Last thing... the embrace scene. The siring process for Salubri is unique (a voluntary diablerie carried on a final teaching of the sire). In VTMB things could have gone differently? If the answer is YES, why?

Zer0Morph wrote:

 I do like the idea of keeping this powerful entity hidden using only notes, emails, phone calls with a male voice speaking numbers or something vague or off the wall. Things like that are not only easy to script and create, but also keeps the player guessing who this mysterious companion helping you and Silvia really is.

Sound great!

Tony77 wrote:

Last thing... the embrace scene. The siring process for Salubri is unique (a voluntary diablerie carried on a final teaching of the sire). In VTMB things could have gone differently? If the answer is YES, why?

Following my above idea, if used, it would be for a few reasons that the PC's sire doesn't go through with that right away, the most obvious being that his or her own Sire is still around. It could be that the PC's sire is aware, or vaguely aware of the diablerie cycle, but there are reasons they do not want to go through with it. Enough that they chose to run from their sire, and eventually...

"How does anyone expect me to deal with this? It is not that I am not grateful for what happened, but this...this is just too much. Now I'm supposed to take his life? Maybe that is not exactly it, but in a way, it amounts to that. Oh, but that is not even the extent of it. Everything I have been told is like a nail in a coffin I will never need. The Clan - hated. The perception - to be hunted. The solution to this is to eternally hide. I am supposed to continue with this? I am supposed to live in this death, knowing that every moment, I am to be unknown, to keep the truth a secret. It was called a gift. MORE LIKE A FUCKING CURSE! Someone else can have it..."

That's it. The PC's sire not only chose someone to embrace themselves, but they did so in a way that deliberately baited the Camarilla. Maybe they both die, it does not matter. In this case the reason the PC's sire does not even say a thing about diablerie(or anything else), is due to them preferring death over that in any way. Sure, they have no idea about how things will turn out, but they know that they will most likely end up dead, and that is all that matters.

The only problem with this angle is LaCroix statement during the intro. If the Sire is indeed what he suggests, then it would make no sense. However, it could be that it is a complete lie - it is said for the benefit of the 'example'. Why say that someone who chose to Sire without permission is a nobody who no one cares about(and would not need a show before the entire city), when you could make an apparent example out of what you call a known, upstanding member, even if it is completely untrue? Like many Anarchs would know every single member of the Camarilla, and any others, would probably just believe whatever they hear, because hell, it's just a Camarilla getting punished, not someone they care about. As for Nines' reason to stop LaCroix before killing the PC - well, here is a neonate who as of yet, has no tie to either side. Why not try to even the playing field a bit? Perhaps get this one on his side, or not riding the Camarilla's line so quickly.

I loved my Salubri playthrough too. It was kind of hard at first, particularly because I also tried to keep a high Humanity, so I did things like invest in Intimidation purely to save the life of the guy from the hospital, which slowed down the development of my combat skills. But once I got over a certain threshold I became an invincible angel of death. The visual & sound effects also reinforce that feeling of being a holy dark knight, smiting evildoers in the name of righteousness.

I enjoyed the above posts, gives me insight on new ideas.

@Draggy

Good feedback! I haven't beaten TFN with a Salubri yet but when I played one, I had a similar experience and found them very rewarding. When I got his Fortitude to 4 with Obeah 4, both running, I couldn't be hurt and when I was damaged, I quickly healed up. It was amazing how resilient to bullets he became!

Zer0Morph wrote:

I enjoyed the above posts, gives me insight on new ideas.

Well... If I had one wish I would ask to soon have new dialogues for the new clans, and I'd be very pleased. A FN 1.3.2...? XD (Sorry for my little off-topic).

Tony77 wrote:

Zer0Morph wrote:

I enjoyed the above posts, gives me insight on new ideas.

Well... If I had one wish I would ask to soon have new dialogues for the new clans, and I'd be very pleased. A FN 1.3.2...? XD (Sorry for my little off-topic).

There isthe little problem of the voice acting...

Feral wrote:

There isthe little problem of the voice acting...

A real pain... I hope that will be resolved soon.

While we're talking about Salubri. I'd like to play one, but I hate the visuals for Obeah 1. Any ideas what kind of power would fit instead or how I can get rid of the visuals wiothout loosing all effects for this level?

Childe of Malkav wrote:

While we're talking about Salubri. I'd like to play one, but I hate the visuals for Obeah 1. Any ideas what kind of power would fit instead or how I can get rid of the visuals wiothout loosing all effects for this level?

You mean the NPC's aura or the surrounding enviroment?

The aura's the problem. That's why I don't use auspex either.
Well since I mostly play melee I suspect that the other effects would be annoying if I use the discipline along with a gun, but I don't know. Is it as bad as presence in first person view?

Childe of Malkav wrote:

The aura's the problem. That's why I don't use auspex either.
Well since I mostly play melee I suspect that the other effects would be annoying if I use the discipline along with a gun, but I don't know. Is it as bad as presence in first person view?

Uhm... Presence and disciplines with similar visual effects... No, I have never bothered by them. I prefer melee combat too, so I suppose that it is a matter of taste.
However... yes, for someone could be annoying. You can get an idea before playing with the Obeah screenshots.

EDIT: I forgot... maybe is not annoying for me because I prefer the third person view...

P.S. In my mind Auspex is far less annoying. And tremendously helpful at high level.

Childe of Malkav wrote:

While we're talking about Salubri. I'd like to play one, but I hate the visuals for Obeah 1. Any ideas what kind of power would fit instead or how I can get rid of the visuals wiothout loosing all effects for this level?

Malkav,

If you go into vampire\particles you will see these 6 files.
d_protean_heatemitter.txt
d_protean_heatparticle.txt
d_proteanview_emitter.txt
d_proteanview_part1.txt
d_proteanview_part2.txt
d_proteanview_part3.txt

These controls the colors of the protean but the problem is that even if you change everything back to white, it still removes the shadows in the game world while active. I desperately tried to find a way to permanently disable the view while using Protean but it appears to be hard coded or something. I could control not shape shifting but couldn't do anything for the view.

Feel free to play around with it and see if you can figure out how to use the Protean discipline without the view changes.