The storyteller's task in Vampire is enormous. Vampire role-playing is a free flowing. There are other role-playing games that can rely on maps for background, in Vampire there will be times when you are unsure even what nation your players will choose to be in.  I've tried to outline my process of creating a vampire adventure. I hope you find it useful. Step 1: The Adversary First you must identify who or what your players are up against. More importantly, why are they being opposed? The motavation of an adversary is vital. It's especially fun to make the players figure out why they have gained this enemy. Make the adversary smart. Vampires don't live thousands of years by being stupid. A methusela isn't going to bother with direct combat unless he or she is really annoyed, besides there are others for that. A strong adversary should stand a good chance of surviving several run in's with the players. This makes a final victory much more satisfying.

Vampires are political creatures. It's not enough to simply deal with a threat. How you deal with it is vital. Who will support your actions? Who will ally with your enemy?

Your next task as a storyteller is to create other vampires who may become involved in the drama. They may become enemies of the players, they may become allies. More likely, they will seek to use the players to further their own ends. Perhaps they will perform a favor for a favor. Perhaps they will see what the players' enemies have to offer.

Blur the lines. The players should be unsure of who is an enemy and who is a friend. They may not even know the true identity of their adversary and the supporting cast can help hide him or her.

If your players begin acting paranoid, suspecting everything and not even trusting each other, then you are doing a good job.

Step 3: The Action

There is so much political intrigue in Vampire that sometimes it is easy to forget the action. Solving problems and making alliances are a vital part of the game, but the players will want some action too, so give it to them.

If you catch them off guard, you might not need too much in the way of setting. Yet the best fights are carefully planned in advance by the storyteller. A dangerous setting adds everything to a good fight, particularly if the fight is the grand finale of your adventure. Vampires are hardy creatures, so feel free to put the players in more danger than you would in other role-playing games. Stage the fight on top of skyscrapers. I personally like moving vehicles. Aircraft, cars.. I find the top of a speeding train adds the excitment I'm looking for, especially when I'm making the players roll to see if they drop in time before they enter a tunnel.

Final Words

The most important thing in planning a vampire adeventure is this: be ready to let it all go.

The players might not take your bait. They might leave the city that you've so carefully planned their adventure in. What you thought might give them a clue may be ignored.

You can try to steer them back, but don't make the mistake of forcing them. You have to give them their freedom. There will come a time when they simply wander off to where you did not expect and do things you did not plan for. After they ignore your subtle hints, just put your work aside. There will be another time for it.

Perhaps the adventure that you make up as you go isn't as exciting as what you planned, but give it your best shot. You may surprise yourself.

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