Posted in: Games, Paradox Interactive, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, Video Games | Tagged: the chinese room, Vampire the Masquerade

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 Discusses the Player Character

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has a new dev diary out as they explore the choices and creativity to the player character

Paradox Interactive and The Chinese Room have released a new blog about the player character for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. The character, which they refer to as the Nomad (because you start off not really being a part of a clan), and the choices you'll make in deciding how they look and what kind of presence they'll have in this alternate reality of Seattle in the World of Darkness. We have a snippet of the blog below, which you can read in full on their website.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 – The Nomad Protagonist

In Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, the matter of history takes a front seat. Our protagonist is centuries old, and while they may change things up to survive, adapt, and keep pace with the march of time, they've nonetheless garnered something of a reputation. If a time-immune forensic detective were to inspect and compare the various crime scenes that are human history, they would no doubt find one set of fingerprints consistent. May you live in interesting times, etcetera, etcetera. Playing an Elder was a bold choice; to move forward without leaning into the unique opportunities that provide for roleplay would be a missed opportunity.

In Narrative Design, we often find ourselves pulled between two ideals: providing agency and choice for players to make the story their own vs keeping the story feeling intentional, strong and tightly wound. The solution, then, is to establish what is immutable and, within that, carve out a more flexible play space. Ultimately, a good story is driven by characters being true to their psychology and either following that thread down towards tragedy, making the same mistakes over and over, or seizing upon the chance to challenge and change themselves.

That's what makes a happy ending triumphant: a character's ability to sacrifice what they have desired and strained towards for so long to defy the never-ending hunger of old, painful wounds for a chance at long-lasting healing. It's what makes a tragic ending tug at our hearts: we see clearly what the character needs, and we see them turn away from it one too many times, too consumed by their pain to do the hard thing, give up their coping mechanisms, and save themselves. What I'm getting at is that history, for us, is not merely superficial or textural. Sure, the Nomad's been around a while, and sure, we want to give you folks the chance to say what they did with that time. But as far as storytelling tools go, that doesn't give us much, and as Narrative Designers, we need tools that will allow us to chisel out those big, emotional moments. So more important than the 'what' is the 'why'. The play space.

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