C A G O

C HI
S.W.A.T.

r V 2 0
r y f o
y S t o
u c t o r
n t r o d
A n I
Credits
by yolkum (https://www.deviantart.com/yolkum/art/
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Special Thanks
Special thanks to all the people who answered the endless
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mind at the time. Specifically Anythony for helping me
The following free-to-use fonts were used in the creation
nail down the prologue, all the playtesters for their tips
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© 2017 White Wolf Entertainment AB. All rights reserved. Vampire:

The Masquerade®, World of Darkness®, Storytelling System™, and
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White Wolf Entertainment AB. All rights reserved.
For additional information on White Wolf and the World of Darkness,
please, visit: www.white-wolf.com,
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2 Credits
Chapter One: Prologue 4
Chapter Two: Introduction 6
Chapter Three: Storyteller’s Summary 10
Chapter Four: Cast of Characters 14
Chapter Five: Act I - Another Bug Hunt 22
Chapter Six: Act II - Express Elevator to Hell 34
Chapter Seven: Act III - Sharp Sticks and
Harsh Language 44
Chapter Eight: Epilogue 56
Appendix A: PC Character Sheets 61
Appendix B: NPC Stats 72
Appendix C: Equipment List 76
Appendix D: Maps 78
Prologue (1982)
Patrol Officer Harold Rook had leaned the seat in
his cruiser back as far as it would go. His coffee
was still too hot to drink, but cusped in his hands
for warmth. One of Boston’s coldest winters on re-
cord flaked down around his windows, melting on the
glass.

*static* “Car 54; suspect spotted in your area; tan

trench-coat; 6’4”; bald ... reported fleeing after an
assault ... eyewitness says he was drinking blood”

He spilled his coffee with a curse, surprised by the

radio.

“Drinking blood. Just my luck,” Rook thought to

himself. He hated these late night winter beats:
the bullshit burglary calls; the Southies stealing
from, or fighting with each other; the distinct lack
of respect from the locals, but this was just crazy.

What happened next Rook would always attribute to

the spilt coffee and cold winter, but little did he
know he’d been being watched for years.
Rook attached himself to the call, received more
specific vector and location details, put his coffee
in the cup holder with a sigh, checked his sidearm,
stepped out of his cruiser, and buttoned up against
the cold. He stopped for a quick look in the mir-
ror, smoothed out his hair and mustache, and smirked
to himself, “You got this you handsome bastard.”

---

The alley was dark and reflections off falling snow

made Rook’s flashlight almost useless. Even still he
was sure he’d cleared all corners before advancing.

---

The amount of blood in Rook’s mouth when he awoke

made him certain he’d lost a tooth, and his first
instinct was to use his tongue to check. It was
only then he realized with horror that an arm was
pressed to his lips and he was drinking hungrily, a
feeling of vigor rushing through him...
 Introduction

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct,

or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead
in the introduction of a new order of things.
-Niccolo Machiavelli

Introduction
This scenario was originally conceived as
an introduction to the World of Darkness. I had
been gaming with a group for just about a year
when our GM became too bogged down with work
related tasks and our “popular fantasy setting
game” petered out. I had run and played World of
Darkness extensively during my high school years,
and offered to take over the mantle of Storyteller
(GM).
To my surprise, none of my fellow gamers
had ever played in a World of Darkness game.
Even more to my surprise, the rules had changed
quite a bit in the (I won’t say how many) years
since I’d last run or played any of these games. So
we were all fumbling about, dice up our... noses...
and rather than subject them to an entire session
of character creation and then another session of
even more brutal (not fun) mucking about I decid-
ed to write an introductory Story with pre-made
characters ... a Story which allowed both me as
a Storyteller dusting the cobwebs off my feeble
mind and them as new players to dabble in a wide
variety of skill uses and resolutions, meet some
mysterious foes, test out some exotic weapons,
equipment, and damage types, and be a bit de-
vious (with a few character driven sub-plots) -- all
whilst immersing ourselves in a straight forward,
action packed couple of nights of fun roleplaying
in the World of Darkness. This is that story.
This story has since been refined through
playtesting; countless hours of running the game
again and again trying to work out the kinks and
make it the best it can be.

7
 Chapter 2
I sincerely hope this book serves as a
jumping off point for your fledgeling Coterie in the
same way it did mine.
(Now, the more formal stuff.)
How to Use This Book
Chicago S.W.A.T. is an introductory sto-
ry for 3-5 players with pre-made characters and
should take two to four nights of gaming to com-
plete. New Storytellers and players should find
this story particularly helpful as it is aimed towards
introducing the World of Darkness and its rele-
vant conflict resolution rules. However, this story
can also be played by experienced players and/or
using characters other than those provided, or be
used as a location inserted into a game which is
already in motion.
This book has primarily been written using
the rules and systems in Vampire: the Masquer-
ade 20th Anniversary Edition (V20), but earlier edi-
tions should work equally well. At least one Vam-
pire: the Masquerade core rulebook is necessary
to play this story through. Some of the abilities,
equipment, etc., have been written using the fol-
lowing books: The Hunter’s Hunted 2, Ghouls and
Revenants, The Players Handbook (2nd Edition),
and World of Darkness: Combat. That said, none
of these additional books are strictly necessary to
tell this story. Ownership of The Hunter’s Hunted 2
is highly advised.
The Story is split into three Acts, with a Sto-
ryteller’s Summary (chapter 3), Cast of Characters
(chapter 4), and an Epilogue (chapter 8). Acts I, II,
and III, are chapters 5, 6, and 7 respectively. PC
stats, equipment, and their game mechanics ap-
pear in Appendix A – PC Character Sheets. Each
player should receive one of these characters. Ap-
pendix B is a printable collection of NPC stats, Ap-
pendix C a printable index of all equipment used in
the story, and Appendix D is a printable collection
of maps. Finally, there is one handout the players
may find during their raid, and a blank S.W.A.T.
themed character sheet.
8
The Storyteller should read all the way
through the story before running it. There are
several twists and turns in the narrative, and it is
possible for players to skip one or more sections
depending on their plan of attack. It is addition-
ally important to note which powers NPCs like El
Borrado and El Chango Grande have available
to them and be familiar with the PCs specialized
equipment and abilities.
Some sections have different styles of text
which denote different types of information.
Text that looks like this de-
scribes locations or events and
should be read aloud or paraphrased
to the players as they encounter
these locations or situations.
Text that looks like this is a sidebar.
These contain additional information for
the Storyteller including background
info, optional rules, and NPC stats. These
should not be read to the players.
To save a bit of space, and to make skill
checks easier to spot in the text, skill checks have
been listed as a three letter Attribute code, plus
an Ability, with the difficulty. The Attributes are as
follows: STR – Strength, DEX – Dexterity, STA –
Stamina, CHA – Charisma, MAN – Manipulation,
APP – Appearance, PER – Perception, INT – In-
telligence, WIT – Wits.
Inspiration
During the writing, editing, and layout of
this book a lot of industrial music (most notably
Haujobb, Front 242, Skinny Puppy and Chemlab)
provided mood and motivation. Additionally, the
drug raid scenes in movies like New Jack City and
Robocop 2, as well as the military scenes in Aliens
provide action-packed examples of what the play-
ers may face.
Introduction

9
 Storyteller’s
Summary

Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made..
-Immanuel Kant, Idea for a General History with a Cosmopolitan Purpose

Storyteller’s Summary No-Knock Warrants

426 Las Vegas Ln. has long been a stash
and distribution house for the Sinaloa Cartel. Drugs
are shipped there en masse and cut, bagged, and
distributed to the greater Chicago area. Chicago
PD has been granted a no-knock warrant to be
executed by the PCs. Detective Rook’s initial in-
vestigation yielded the warrant, so he has been at-
tached to the S.W.A.T. team which will execute it.
The Building
The building itself is unremarkable; a squat,
brown, tenement in a run-down Chicago neigh-
borhood. A rusted out fire escape climbs from a
cramped back alley parking lot. One street light
flickers. Some residents hang on to their rent con-
trolled apartments despite the flagrant gang activity
surrounding them. Smoke and filth permeate the walls.
A no-knock warrant allows
officers to enter the premises without
first knocking or otherwise identifying
themselves as police. These kinds of
warrants are usually issued to give police
the element of surprise in situations
where evidence may be destroyed or
the suspects may be dangerous. Though
widespread in the United States, these
warrants have become highly criticized
for putting police, suspects, and bystand-
ers in danger.

11
 Chapter 3
The building’s layout is fairly simple; five
floors and a basement, four apartments per floor,
and three points of ingress. One elevator and one
fire escape run from the basement to the fifth floor
inside the building. The main doors on the first
floor open to the south, onto an east/west running
street where the players will start. An alleyway on
the east side of the building leads to a small park-
ing lot in the back (north), where a fire escape is
attached to the outside of the building and a sunk-
en door leads to the basement. Maps and more
detailed descriptions are provided in Chapters 5,
6, 7, and the Maps Appendix.
However, unbeknownst to the residents
and the S.W.A.T. team sent to infiltrate this build-
ing, two vampires, El Chango Grande (the Big
Ape) and El Borrado (the Erased), have been sent
with their two heavily armed ghoul foot-soldiers to
secure this important distribution center, and the
top two floors have been converted into a fortress.
The Sinaloa Cartel is, itself, unaware of the true
nature of its vampiric lieutenants. As the players
climb through this drug factory their foes escalate
from street level gangbangers to the supernatural
itself. Wits, stakes and fire are their only true allies
in this ascent into darkness.
The Challenges
Intrigue and secrets within the S.W.A.T.
squad present additional challenges. Staff Ser-
geant A.P. is a dirty cop with a cocaine addiction.
Officer Vasquez is bent on vengeance and will dis-
regard the rules of engagement, opting for lethal
force when she can. Detective Rook is a ghoul
who needs more vampire blood or he will start to
age. Hyx can sense vampires and is suspicious of
Rook. Judson is generally along for the ride and
may choose sides as best benefits him. Encour-
age note passing and role-playing -- the charac-
ters in question would take great care not to reveal
their intentions.
The S.W.A.T. team should sweep and clear
as instructed, using non-lethal means when possi-
ble and suppressed weapons when presented no
other choice (see the sidebar on Humanity rolls).
Should they use the back fire escape, they will
12
find the fourth and fifth floor windows barred and
blacked out. Should they use the internal fire es-
cape they will find the fourth and fifth floor fire
doors reinforced and guarded from the inside.
The elevators are a simpler method of ingress, but
the fourth and fifth floors have been “renovated”
into large rooms by the Cartel, and several of the
apartment doors have been walled over to control
entry points. Cameras provide additional security.
Some options are provided in the S.W.A.T.
team’s equipment: Judson’s lock picking, A.P.’s
breaching explosives, and Hyx’ breacher rounds
all provide avenues to defeat these obstacles
physically. The players may choose to try to so-
cial engineer a way in; Vasquez in particular could
pose as a worker to get inside, though this would
put her in significant personal danger.
Vary the Cartel’s response and level of
preparedness based on the ingenuity of the play-
ers’ approach. While some characters have sup-
pressed weapons, these weapons are not truly si-
lent. Cartel members also do not carry suppressed
weapons, meaning any shots fired by them will cer-
tainly be heard on their floor, and have the chance
of being heard on other floors. If the characters
actions are detected, either by lack of stealth or by
warning from NPCs on lower floors, El Borrado will
be waiting for them on the 4th floor and attempt to
Awe them into a parlay with El Chango Grande.
Chapter 7, Sharp Sticks and Harsh Language,
provides more information on this story direction.
Civilians, who may be armed, are pep-
pered through the building as well and their re-
sponses should be varied based on noise level
and perceived threat. Play up low light situations
and quick life or death decisions -- there should
be a palpable possibility of accidentally killing the
wrong person. Moral danger should weigh more
heavily on the characters than physical danger.
 Storyteller’s Summary
Success
Success can be measured in many ways. The most straight-
forward goal is for the S.W.A.T. team to arrest, incapacitate,
or kill enough cartel members and gather enough evidence
to break the Cartel’s hold on the building. Underlying this
goal is eliminating or eradicating the supernatural
presence in the building, winning a more symbolic victory
for humanity in the World of Darkness. However, cutting a
deal with the Cartel or even becoming ghouls or vampires
could be considered success depending on player choices
and role-playing. Chapter 8, Epilogue, contains more infor-
mation on successes, rewards, and continuing the story.

Humanity rolls
American police carry firearms. They are authorized to use lethal force in appropriate situations. Yet, most American police
officers do not set out to kill anyone; in fact they face moral dilemmas when required to. This dichotomy is essential to creating an
immersive trip into the World of Darkness. The question of what makes us “human” is an integral part of Vampire: the Masquerade.
All of the pre-made characters provided have a Humanity of 5, as they are seasoned S.W.A.T. officers and have degraded
somewhat from the “standard” human Humanity of 7. Storytellers who want to make Humanity rolls and Degradation less central to
the game could rule that killing Cartel members in self-defense is a 5 or 6 on the Hierarchy of Sins (V20 rulebook pg. 312)
and does not require a roll, while Storytellers wanting to make players think carefully before shooting may rule this same action as a
4 or even 3, requiring a Conscience roll at a difficulty of 8 any time a Cartel member is killed. Accidentally killing civilians should,
however, always require a roll.
However, the only real in game effect of losing a point of Humanity is the possibility of gaining a derangement. As most of
the derangements listed in the V20 rulebook would also have little to no bearing on a Story which takes the place over the course
of one night, here is a short list of “short-term” derangements which the Storyteller may implement on a failed Humanity roll:

- Catatonia: the character sits, stands, or assumes
a fetal position and cannot react to any outside stimuli.
- Fugue State: the character “blacks out” and is
unaware of their actions during this time. The player
could leave the room and the character could be run as
an NPC until the effect wears off.
- Hallucinations: the character hears or sees things
which are not really there. This does not include car-
toon animals or aliens, but things which could convincingly
be real such as a shape moving in the shadows at the
end of a darkened hallway or the muffled sound of
voices from another room.
- Hysteria: a crying, screaming, or even laughing
fit (one, not all) which cannot be stopped by outside
influence. This should be loud enough to alert people in
adjacent rooms.
- Logorrhea: a torrent of coherent, but disorganized
speech which may relate to the specific event which caused
the derangement or other events relevant to the character.
- Panic Attack: the character experiences shortness of
breath, accelerated heart rate, an inability to focus, intense,
overpowering fear, trembling or shaking, and a powerful
urge to flee. On a failed Self-Control roll the character
will immediately attempt to flee.
- Persecutory Delusions: the character believes that
someone in particular is actively working against them or plotting
to harm them. They may take actions from shouting accusations
to outright attack. If another character attempts to talk them
down, have that Character roll Charisma + Empathy or Manipula-
tion + Subterfuge vs. the deluded character’s current Willpower.
- Temporary Sensory Loss: the character is suddenly
unable to see, hear, smell, or feel (choose one).

Players should roll an extended Self-Control check with a difficulty of 6 until they accumulate 5 successes in order
to overcome the temporary derangement and return to normal. In combat each roll is one round, outside of combat
each roll could be anywhere from 1 minute to 10 minutes (or longer) depending on the situation.

13
 Cast of
Characters

Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls;

the most massive characters are seared with scars.
-Khalil Gibran, The Broken Wings

S.W.A.T.
The S.W.A.T Team consists of five pre-
made characters, created using 6/4/3 for Attributes,
11/7/4 for Abilities, 0 Backgrounds, 7 Virtues, and
21 Freebie points. Backgrounds are unlikely to
have any effect on this story, and so were not in-
cluded. If these characters are used outside of
or after this story, they should add 5 Background
dots. Most of these should be in: Status (Police);
Armory; Contacts; Allies; or Resources.
This story should be run with five players,
but can be run with a minimum of three. In a three
player game, Detective Rook, Officer Vasquez,
and Seargant A.P. should be run as PCs due to
their subplots, and Officers Hyx and Judson may
be run as NPCs or as secondary characters by
more experienced gamers. Additionally, these
pre-made characters could be replaced with play-
er-made human cops, ghouls, or even vampries.

Each character sheet provided in Appendix A

is two pages. The first page contains a charac-
ter image, short bio, roleplaying tips, and detailed
game mechanics for the character’s special abil-
ities and equipment. The second page contains
the character’s stats in the standard World of
Darkness format. Summaries are provided here
for Storyteller reference.

15
 Chapter 4
The Officers
Staff Seargant
A.P.
A.P. (Albert Pone) is
a former high school athlete
and marine who has been
on the police force since fin-
ishing two combat tours. His natural athletic tal-
ents and knowledge of explosives and demolitions
earned him his promotion to the S.W.A.T. team; his
military experience and leadership ability earned
him his first command. However, in the decade
since he joined the S.W.A.T. team, and to mitigate
the trauma of his tours of duty, he has developed
a well hidden, yet serious cocaine addiction which
colors his every move.
As a direct result, A.P. has become a dirty
cop. He is not currently on the take to any particu-
lar organization, but will sometimes take shortcuts
such as planting evidence to meet his arrest quo-
ta, and will mis-report cash seizures and cocaine
busts so he can steal some for himself. He has
worked with Vasquez and Judson previously and
knows he can trust them to participate, but Hyx is
new to his squad and the further presence of Rook
is particularly troubling on this raid.
Regains Willpower by convincing or trick-
ing others into doing something for him, particular-
ly against their own interests, however this does
not include issuing commands, and at the Story-
teller’s discretion may regain 1-2 points of Will-
power for any significant progress in sustaining his
addiction.
A.P. is an explosives expert and carries
breaching charges (to blow open locks) and flash-
bang grenades. These are detailed further on his
character sheet.
16
Field Training
Officer Hyx
Hyx is second in com-
mand. He grew up in a small
town in the South, where he
eschewed video games for
real outdoor activities with his father, learning how
to hunt with a shotgun at the age of ten. Hicks talks
extremely quickly and is skilled at getting people to
agree to things before they even realize what they
are agreeing to.
Hyx has seen some odd things in his career
as a police officer. Due to his superstitious upbring-
ing and some research into unexplained phenom-
enon, Hicks is convinced vampires exist and can
be killed by fire or sunlight which is represented by
his ˜ in Occult. He can roll INT + Occult, Difficulty
6 to possibly know other information about vam-
pires or the Occult in general. The Storyteller may
make this roll secretly and provide misinformation
on failure. His Merit: Scent of the Vampire means
he can sense when a vampire is near, though he
does not know whom or where. He is always mildly
uncomfortable around Detective Rook, though not
as uncomfortable as he might around a vampire.
Regains Willpower whenever he manages
to accomplish a significant task which positively af-
fects the group, and at the Storyteller’s discretion
may regain 1-2 points of Willpower for successfully
identifying or destroying a vampire.
Hyx is a shotgun specialist and is equipped
with a Remmington 870 Shotgun which can fire
several unique rounds. These are further detailed
on his character sheet.
 Cast of Characters
The Officers Combat Medicine
Field Medical
Officer Vasquez
Vasquez is from the
Sinaloa area of Mexico, and
as such speaks Spanish. Her
family emigrated to the U.S.
when she was young, but not before she saw her
older brother get hooked and eventually OD on
Sinaloa cocaine. She joined the “War on Drugs” as
a police officer (and was later promoted to S.W.A.T.
for her ruthless efficiency) to get revenge on Latin
gang-bangers in general, but has a specific hatred
for the Sinaloa Cartel.
Vasquez’s Flaw, “Vengeance”, means she
will ignore police procedure. She will not typically
arrest or subdue any Cartel members, but instead
assassinate them unless stopped. She is smart
enough to attempt to goad them into firing first, or
enter rooms alone and claim she was fired upon.
She will participate in theft of cash, particularly
drug money, perpetrated by A.P.
Regains Willpower whenever she achieves
her agenda through brutishness or intimidation,
and at the Storyteller’s discretion may regain 1-2
points of Willpower for any significant progress to-
wards her vengeance.
Vasquez is both a combat medic (see side-
bar on combat medicine) and martial arts special-
ist. She has several special hand-to-hand combat
maneuvers which are detailed on her character
sheet.
While someone who’s been shot
9 times would not be able to function
the same as someone just bruised in a
fist fight even after being meticulously
wrapped head to toe with bandages by
the most expert doctor, the rules for
the Knowledge: Medicine make
practical use irrelevant for this story.
These are some optional rules (Story-
teller’s discretion) for using Combat
Medicine:
Lethal damage beyond Hurt, if
left untreated, worsens at a rate of
one health level per hour or per Scene
(moving to the next floor) instead of
one per day. This represents the con-
cept that someone who has been
severely stabbed or shot may bleed out
in a matter of hours if untreated, as
opposed to a matter of days. Maimed
or Incapacitated mortals may die in a
matter of minutes if not bandaged.
Wounded mortals between
Injured and Mauled may recover one
health level on a successful application
of Medicine (by someone skilled in this
Ability) on a very successful roll (WIT
+ Medicine), specifically more than 3
successes. However, this may only be
attempted once per lethal wound which
caused damage past Hurt. For exam-
ple, someone who was stabbed causing
2 health levels of damage, then shot
causing 2 more, may only receive first
aid once with the possibility of heal-
ing one health level of damage. If they
are then shot again, they may receive
treatment for the new wound.
17
 Chapter 4
The Officers
Tech Officer
Judson
Judson is the only Chi-
cago native on the S.W.A.T.
team. He is originally from the
South Side and is very famil-
iar with the local street and criminal culture. He’s
also naturally gifted at mechanical and electronic
systems, and was caught breaking and entering
just after his 18th birthday and given the option of
jail or military service.
After he completed his court-ordered en-
listment he joined the S.W.A.T. team directly (and
thus shares a history of military service with Ser-
geant A.P.). He is flippant and irreverent, given to
bragging about being the ultimate bad-ass, but will
generally follow A.P.’s orders without question.
Regains Willpower whenever he predicts a
specific negative outcome before it happens. This
can be said aloud to the whole squad, or privately
to the Storyteller.
Judson has fast reflexes and a mechan-
ical aptitude which are detailed on his character
sheet. However, his Mert: Danger Sense should
be handled by the Storyteller. Whenever Judson
is in danger, for example an ambush is awaiting
him behind the next door, the Storyteller should
secretly roll his PER + Alertness (6 dice) against
a difficulty determined by how imminent and seri-
ous the danger is. One success will give Judson
a “bad feeling” while three or more successes may
provide more detailed information.
18
Detective
Rook
Rook is a ghoul; a hu-
man who has tasted vampire
blood and gained some vam-
piric powers. He appears to
be 28 years old but is actually around 60. Hoewver,
he must consume vampire blood once every 30
days or age at an accelerated rate until he reaches
60. Tonight is his last few hours.
This is more of a plot device than anything
else. If he does not feed before the end of the night
he will not immediately crumble to dust, but age at
10x his normal rate until he reaches 60 years old.
For example, if he does not feed for another year,
he will appear 38 years old.
The vampire who originally fed him was a
Nosferatu, meaning he has inherited that Clan’s
weakness (Ugly). He has sunken, dark rimmed
eyes, thinning hair, and pock-marked skin. This is
reflected in his APP of ˜.
His Occult of ˜˜ represents the follow-
ing knowledge: vampires are real; vampires can
be killed by fire or sunlight; vampires can be im-
mobilized by a stake through the heart; vampires
cannot eat food or drink anything other than blood.
He can roll INT + Occult, Difficulty 6, to possibly
recall other information about vampires or the Oc-
cult. The Storyteller may make this roll secretly
and provide misinformation on failure.
Regains Willpower whenever he accomplishes
something by himself, and at the Storyteller’s dis-
cretion may regain 1-2 points of Willpower after
feeding.
Rook is a melee weapons specialist, and
carries wooden stakes to immobilize vampires.
He has additional abilities as a ghoul; these are
detailed on his character sheet and in the sidebar
on ghouls in this chapter.
 Cast of Characters
The Cartel
The Sinaloa Cartel has recently felt the heat closing down on their Chicago operations. In
response, they’ve sent two of their best lieutenants. These are the two main vampire NPCs the char-
acters will encounter. They have been created using 7/5/3 for Attributes, 13/9/5 for Abilities, 7 Virtues,
5 Backgrounds, 3 Disciplines, and 15 Freebie Points. However, Advantages (specifically Merits and
Disciplines) have been adjusted as necessary. They are further supported by two ghouls, both bound
to El Borrado, who have only been given abilities for actions they are likely to perform and a default dice
pool instead of full character sheets. These NPC stats appear in Appendix E; background summaries
and other information are provided here.

Ghouls

Ghouls are humans who have consumed vampire blood without being completely
drained first. There are three ghoul characters in this story; Detective Rook and two
of El Borrado’s underlings. Basic information about ghouls can be found in the 20th
Anniversary Edition of Vampire: The Masquerade (starting on page 496) and expand-
ed information is given in the Ghouls and Revenants supplement. The following are bullet
points necessary to run the ghouls in this story. Ghouls can:

- Frenzy if provoked, though do not frenzy at the sight of blood

- Be blood bound

- Use vampiric Disciplines in the same way as vampires

- Use blood points to heal in the same way as vampires

- NOT use blood points to temporarily increase physical attributes

- NOT resist damage in the same way as vampires; they take damage the same
as humans and die if they take more than seven levels of lethal damage

- NOT soak lethal damage (without armor or Fortitude)

In addition, ghouls have a weakness based on the Clan of the vampire who created
them. Rook is fairly ugly and cannot improve his appearance; El Borrado’s underlings share
her tendency to frenzy more easily.

19
 Chapter 4
The Cartel
El Chango
Grande aka “The
Big Monkey”
Matias was swept up
in the Socialist revolutions
of the 1960’s in Central and
South America, and Embraced during this time.
He drifted throughout the region for a while, un-
til coming in contact with the Contras during the
early 1980’s. His combat prowess was recognized
by the Sinaloa Cartel, and he has been using his
position with them to cover his vampiric existence
since, as the Cartel allows him easy access to hu-
mans to feed from.
Though Gangrel are often considered to be
nomadic due to their animalistic nature, Matias has
always preferred to carve out a comfortable and
easily defend-able lair from which to stake claim
to his territory. He is not above working within the
Camarilla or Cartel framework if he has relative
autonomy and can insure his creature comforts.
His nickname comes from his increas-
ingly ape-like visage. As a Gangrel, each Frenzy
he succumbs to carries the risk of an animalistic
characteristic becoming permanent as the Beast
expresses itself physically. His simian features in-
clude a widened, flattened nose; a rounded and
protruding maw; rounded ears which are usually
covered by his long hair; and thick body hair.
El Chango Grande has a wide variety of
Vampiric powers ranging from combat oriented to
social to truly supernatural. His Protean ˜˜ al-
lows him to grow fearsome claws while his For-
titude ˜˜ allows him to shrug off a significant
amount of damage. He can force others to obey
one word commands, implant false thoughts or
hypnotic suggestions, and alter or erase memo-
ries (Dominate ˜ to ˜˜˜). His higher levels of
Protean allow him to sink into the Earth or change
into animal form.
20
El Borrado aka
“The Erased”
El Borrado is a Cartel
member and Sabbat Brujah
through and through. While
extremely charismatic -- a charisma reinforced by
her aptitude in the Presence discipline -- this is the
charisma of a sociopath with an underlying violent
and unpredictable temper. She is the head of the
Sinaloa Cartel’s protection and enforcement arm
in the greater Chicago area.
She is brutal in her role as an enforcer. Her
Vampiric abilities give her increased strength (Po-
tence) and speed (Celerity) in addition to the ability
to sway emotions, and when her persuasion and
intimidation fail she simply hammers out her de-
sired result with brute force. She is proficient with
SMGs and prefers the MAC-10 popular in the 80’s.
She has also created two Ghouls which
accompany her in monitoring the 4th floor of 426
Las Vegas Ln.
El Borrado’s
Ghouls
No back-story is nec-
essary for these characters
except to note they are twins.
They function primarily as
added firepower. The only important roleplaying
point is their blood bond to El Borrado: they cannot
be persuaded, convinced, bribed, or even threat-
ened to act against her and will put her safety
above their own, dying to protect her if necessary.
Their disciplines make them faster (Celeri-
ty ˜˜) and stronger (Potence ˜), and their Pres-
ence ˜˜ allows them to frighten enemies.
 Cast of Characters
The Cartel Others
Gangsters
The Cartel has been renting apartments as
long time residents are pushed out with the inten-
tion of controlling the entire building. These Cartel
apartments are occupied by street level gangsters
doing everything from partying to sleeping, and
may contain civilians as well.
The Sinaloa Cartel uses MS-13 gang mem-
bers as soldiers, so most of these lower level gang
members are not actual cartel members. They are,
however, incredibly violent - the machete is their
weapon of choice. MS-13 members are typically
teens to early 20’s (most are either dead or incar-
cerated by 25) and vary greatly in height, weight,
body type, and appearance. Most have multiple
tattoos, including facial tattoos. Stats, dice pools,
and randomized weapon and reaction charts for
these gangsters are given in Chapter 6.
Building Superintendent
Emmanuel Braden lives in 1B and is used
to being harassed by Cartel members. He will warn
officers then fire on them with a shotgun if they do
not identify themselves as police, as he assumes
they are gangsters or Cartel members breaking in
to his home. He is the most likely innocent resident
to be accidentally killed. More information, includ-
ing his stats and dice pools, is given in Chapter 5.
Junkies
Belinda and J.B. Taylor occupy apartment
3A. They are methamphetamine junkies and sev-
erly mentally unhinged. They are the only other
occupants who will be immediately hostile to po-
lice, and should present a conflict of morality for
the players.
Residents
Civilian residents are scattered throughout
the first three floors of the building. Each resident
along with any dice pools, stats, weapons, or other
relevat information is listed in the chapter in which
they appear, but the following is a summarized list
for quick reference:
1D Justin and Adrianna Moto: a mid 20’s couple.
2A Hernando Delgado: a university student
2B Al, Fannie, and Loretta White: a middle-aged
married couple with a daughter
2D Nolan Meaney: a blue collar worker and anti-
goverment conspiracy theorist
3D Gail Weatherby: an elderly woman with a small
yappy dog
All residents have a dice pool of ˜˜˜ for any
actions not specifically listed.
21
 Act I:
Another
Bug Hunt
Crime leaves a trail like a water beetle...
-Malawi Proverb
Mission Briefing
The players should have reviewed their
character sheets and familiarized themselves with
their characters’ equipment and abilities. They will
start by exiting the S.W.A.T. van and infiltrating
426 Las Vegas Ln. This Act covers their mission
briefing, the first floor, basement of the building,
and its alleyway and rear parking lot.
426 Las Vegas Ln. is laid out with a south-
ward facing main entrance. There are four apart-
ments per level labeled A-D, rotating from the
southeast corner to the southwest corner (see
map). The first floor does not have an apartment A
as this space is given over to the superintendent’s
office.
Begin by reading the briefing, which
continues on to the next page:
...
Each time you get called
into this “mobile command cen-
ter” you wish you’d put in for a
transfer. You can see the grease
stains on the keyboard at the
monitoring station left by Ed-
die’s grubby little hands, and
the whole van reeks of stained
armpits and cheap coffee breath.
Everything in here seems at least
10 years old. Your precinct hasn’t
even moved to self-contained ear-
pieces yet; you still have a set
of contact mics strapped across
your throat. You hope the set you
grabbed is the set you used last
time -
23
 Chapter 5
the thought of your partner’s
neck sweat mingling with yours
makes you cringe.
Lieutenant Korman’s voice
cracks through your shitty, un-
comfortable headsets, “Officers.
Vice has accumulated enough sur-
veillance and other evidence for
a no-knock raid on the building
at 426 Las Vegas Ln, a suspected
cocaine distribution center, from
which you are currently parked
half a block down. Vice believes
the Sinaloa Cartel runs this
block and this building is being
used to cut and repackage bricks
of crack-cocaine for street level
distribution. Since those loaf-
er-wearing tubs can’t be expected
to clear a whole apartment build-
ing, we get their shit, though
Detective Rook has been attached
to your unit to oversee the op-
eration. Detain as many cartel
members and their soldiers as
possible, while gathering evi-
dence. Priority targets include
El Chango Grande and El Borrado;
both Mexican nationals currently
believed to be in the U.S. In-
tel has them somewhere within the
building. This a simple sweep
and clear, standard police arrest
protocol is in effect, but force
may be answered with proportion-
ate counter-force. I want this
thing to go smooth, and by the
numbers. Any questions?”
24
If the players ask about the building layout:
“There are five floors, four
apartments per floor, lettered A-D
rotating from the Southeast corner
counterclockwise to the Southwest
corner. The elevator runs from the
basement to the fifth floor on the
west side of the foyer. Internal
fire escape stairs run from the
basement to the fifth floor on the
south-east corner. Entry points
are the main south facing entrance
and a small basement entrance on
the north side reached via the
east alleyway. An external fire
escape runs from the first to the
fifth floor on the north side of the
building, however drone surveil-
lance indicates blacked-out win-
dows, with bars installed, on the
upper two floors.”
If the players ask about the Cartel:
“The Sinaloa Cartel is heavily
armed; expect resistance. Vice be-
lieves the main target, El Chango
Grande, to be entrenched somewhere
on the top floor. Anywhere from
10-20 Cartel members may be else-
where, likely armed with automatic
weapons. Check your targets people
- 426 Las Vegas Ln. has been rent
controlled since the 60’s and many
long time residents have refused
to move despite the Cartel’s pres-
ence.”
 ACT I: ANOTHER BUG HUNT
If any Player asks, “How do I get out of this
chicken-shit outfit?” grant them an extra Willpower
point beyond their max.

For any other questions, improvise. How-

ever, any other surveillance has only turned up
what is available in the mission briefings. Should
Judson decide to use the SWAT mobile command
center’s computers to pull up blueprints, the Story-
teller may decide to give him nothing, blueprints of
main features like elevators and fire escapes only,
or full schematics. However, in the latter case the
schematics will show the fourth and fifth floors as
identical to the second and third floors.

When the players are ready to exit the

S.W.A.T. van:

Eddie’s chair makes a

screeching sound as he swivels to
face you. He wheezes, hits his
inhaler, then takes a bite of his
pizza. Grease dribbles down his
chin as he talks with his mouth
full, “I really hate these danger-
ous assignments, don’t you?”

The orangish/yellowish light

from the street lamps, and the
scene they illuminate, is only
slightly less disgusting than Ed-
die’s full-mouthed greasy conde-
scending question. Apparently this
neighborhood is still too poor to
have had its 1980’s era high pres-
sure sodium street lights changed
to true clear LED models. The hard
rubberized soles of your AR-670
standard issue boots crunch the
glass of discarded syringes and
broken liquor bottles underfoot as
you exit the mobile command cen-
ter. A line of cars, mostly rust-
ing 1970’s models, line this side
of the street all the way to the
target building. The streets are
as clear as the night sky. How do
you deploy?

25
 Chapter 5
First Floor
The first floor of the building houses only
one gang-rented apartment: apartment C. This
apartment is on the northwest corner. Apartment
D (southwest corner) is rented by long term resi-
dents. Apartment B is the Superintendent’s. There
is a door in the fire escape which leads to the Su-
perintendent’s office, in place of what would be
apartment A on higher floors.
For players entering the building frontage:
The frontage of this building
may have once been an art deco
masterpiece, but now it stands
neglected. A doorman might have
even once worked here, but now a
simple keypad to ring for entrance
remains. The door has been propped
open with a spent spray paint can.
The hallway floor is free of
debris; it’s been cleaned recent-
ly. To your left are apartments
D and C, split by the elevator.
To your immediate right is a fire
door. Also on the right side are
mailboxes covered with graffiti,
and the door to apartment B, which
is spotless. At the far end of the
hallway is a fire cabinet contain-
ing a hose and an axe.
Superintendent’s Office
Entering the fire door to the
east leads to a fire escape stair-
well with stairs leading up to
higher floors and down to the
basement. On the left is another
door, wood with a large frosted
glass pane and the words “Building
Superintendent” in black stencil -
it is probably the original office
door from the building’s construc-
tion in the 30’s. The doorknob,
however, has been updated.
26
Breaking the glass to open the door from
the inside is easy enough for players (an “auto-
matic success” as the difficulty is only 2 and all
characters have at least a STR ˜˜). Breaking
the wooden door down is only an automatic suc-
cess for A.P., Vasquez, and Rook. Hyx and Judson
should make a Willpower roll at a difficulty of 9 to
break down the door.
However, both of these actions make noise.
Should the Players choose to break the glass or
the door, the superintendent has a chance to hear
it as do the occupants of apartments C and D.
One success (on a PER + Alertness roll) means
they’ve heard something, two to three success-
es mean they can identify the sound as breaking
glass or wood.
The more obvious choice is to have Jud-
son use his Infiltration skill (DEX + Larceny, diffi-
culty 6). All other main apartment doors on floors
1-3 can also be picked with a difficulty of 5. Judson
can also choose an automatic success for these
actions (as his dice pool is 8) if he is not under
duress. Other Characters attempting this roll do so
using their DEX only and so may not take an auto-
matic success. The difficulty of their unskilled rolls
is also one higher, for example a main apartment
door lock with a difficulty of 5 would be rolled with
a difficulty of 6 for PCs without the Larceny skill.
The interior of the super-
intendent’s office is cramped and
basic. A workbench dominates the
right hand wall; various tools
hang from hooks on a pressboard.
A small, old, metal desk just fits
into the remaining space. To the
left there is a door which opens
into a utility bathroom. The door
only opens half-way before butt-
ing into a deep, battered, alu-
minum sink. The remainder of the
room contains a toilet, mop sink,
mop and bucket, and cleaning sup-
plies.
ACT I: ANOTHER BUG HUNT

First Floor

27
 Chapter 5
The superintendent’s desk has two draw-
ers. The top drawer contains invoices and other
notices -- nothing of any importance. The bottom Emmanuel Braden
drawer is locked (difficulty 2 to pry it open, difficulty
3 to pick the lock) and contains the financial reg- Emmanuel is a tall, lanky man with
ister and the resident register. If the players ask
about the resident register, give them Handout A
prominent veins on his arms and hands.
(page 84). The financial register contains similar
information but is more a record of rent paid and Though creases in his face and a dis-
past due, and contains carbon copy hand written tinct lack of hair show his age, he
receipt pages. If players specifically ask, they may moves with a confident vigor and speaks
make an INT + Investigation roll, difficulty 7, to rec- with a deeply resonant voice.
ognize that the total recorded rent paid for floor
4 and floor 5 is higher than the combined rent of Emmanuel has been the building
each individual unit. superintendent and onsite property man-
ager for more than two decades. He is
Apartment 1B organized, fastidious, hard-working, and
generally friendly with long term resi-
The doorknob and cheap metal dents. Although he loathes the increas-
“B” on this door shine dullishly ing cartel presence in the building, he
in the fluorescent hallway light-
has no love for or trust of police.
ing. The door seems to have a
fresh coat of paint, contrasting
sharply with the chipped, faded Dice Pools:
paint of the other doors in this
hall. Crafts ˜˜˜˜˜˜

Once the door is opened: Security ˜˜˜˜˜˜

Budget earth toned furniture,
Firearms ˜˜˜˜˜
which likely hasn’t been updated
since the 1970’s, is comfortably
arranged throughout the room,
Subterfuge ˜˜˜˜˜
punctuated with healthy potted
plants. A dull yellow shag rug un- Willpower ˜˜˜˜˜˜
der the coffee table completes the
retro look. To the right an open All other dice pools ˜˜˜˜
door leads to a basic bathroom.
Along the left wall, between two Equipment:
closed doors, is a chipped and
cracked beige veneer TV cabinet Remington 870 (Shotgun) - Damage 8,
with a brand new large black flat
Range 20, Rate 1, Capacity 5+1
screen squeezed into it.

28
 ACT I: ANOTHER BUG HUNT
How the characters choose to enter Em-
manuel’s apartment will set the tone for the en-
counter which follows. If they knock and announce
their presence, he will answer (see below). If,
however, they pick the lock or break open the door,
his reactions will vary as follows:
If Surprised: Emmanuel will be seated on
his sofa reading a book with his shotgun propped
up against the armrest. If his door is suddenly
opened he will try to stand up and grab his gun un-
less the players immediately identify themselves
as police.
If Alert: Emmanuel will be crouched behind
the sofa, shotgun at ready, and will fire when his
door is opened (on his Initiative), again unless the
players identify themselves first. At this point the
players may attempt to talk him down (MAN + Em-
pathy) or intimidate him (MAN + Intimidation) with
a difficulty of 6. If the characters should simply re-
turn fire and kill him, they should immediately real-
ize he is not a cartel member and make a Humani-
ty roll. The characters also have several non-lethal
means to disable Emmanuel, though being tased
or grappled will make him extremely uncoopera-
tive.
Once any potential combat has been re-
solved (or avoided), Braden’s level of cooperation
will range from: completely unwilling to cooperate
in any way not required by law; to guarded but
helpful. Regardless he will not volunteer any ad-
ditional help or information. Instead, he will contin-
uously tell the officers their raid on this building is
reckless and dangerous and they, “should get the
hell out.” If the players ask, he does not have a
skeleton key for the building; he only has keys for
the main doors, fire safety closets, electric and wa-
ter, and elevators. He will only part with keys on a
successful persuasion or intimidation roll (difficulty
8); only one character may try only once.
Further, he will avoid questions about irreg-
ularities with the upper two floors. A combination of
bribes, threats, and intimidation has caused Em-
manuel to look the other way regarding the cartel’s
“remodeling” of these floors, and in fact he has not
been above the third floor for at least a year. He
justifies this to himself by spending most of the
money on building improvements, but the new TV
in his apartment was also paid for by bribes.
He is reticent to give any information out
of both guilt and fear. Interrogating him requires
a MAN + Empathy/Intimidation extended resisted
roll versus his Subterfuge dice pool. Three suc-
cesses will cause him to admit there’s been some
construction upstairs and he doesn’t go up there
anymore; five successes will cause him to admit
the cartel has taken over those floors and paid him
off. Any failure or botch will cause him to become
extremely angry and start yelling about the police
needing to mind their own business. This noise will
awaken the residents of apartment D and alert the
gangsters in apartment C.
Apartment 1C
When the players approach:
A capital X and three I’s
are scrawled in black spray paint
across the door and door jamb of
this apartment. A heavy scent is
apparent near the door. The sound
of a TV and occasional conversa-
tion is easily heard through the
door; it sounds as though they’re
watching a game.
The following rolls can be made to gain
more information from the description:
• WIT + Streetwise, difficulty 6, to identify the
graffiti as an MS-13 tag.
• PER + Streetwise, difficulty 5, to idendify the
scent as marijuana.
• Vasquez only - PER + Alertness, difficulty 5, to
notice the language from the TV is Spanish.
29
 Chapter 5

30
 ACT I: ANOTHER BUG HUNT
When the door is pushed open:
Apartment 1D
The door opens sluggishly,
The door is nondescript and comparable to
impeded by a thick towel shoved
others on this floor. Listening at this door will yield
under the door jam in a collegiate
no results.
attempt to mask the smoke inside.
Pizza crusts and pizza boxes, half
Once the door has been opened:
empty beer bottles, blunts, ash,
and smoke assault your nose and
Your tactical flashlight beams
assault the coffee table propping
sweep across the dark room re-
up three sets of blue and white
vealing sparse “affordable” fur-
Air Force One clad feet. Stoned
niture in bright primary colors.
and surprised looks grace the fac-
A cramped nook opens to a kitchen
es of three heavily tattooed Lati-
on the right, into which has been
no men as they look up from an iTV
stuffed a small table with two
playing a Mexico National football
chairs. Farther along the right a
game. Posters of football players
jutting wall has one closed door.
have been tacked up on the other-
The door leads to a sparse bed-
wise unadorned walls. One handgun
room.
lies, obviously unloaded, on the
coffee table.
Apartment D contains a young couple, Jus-
tin and Adrianna Moto, who are civilians (and noth-
Apartment C is the Cartel trap house meant
ing else of note). The second door leads into the
to protect more sensitive areas. All three occupants
bedroom, where the couple will be.
are legal residents of the US, with no outstanding
warrants. The apartment and handgun are legally
If Surprised: they will be in bed, asleep.
registered to Chris Sandoval, who can produce a
When awakened they may shout in alarm, possi-
license for the gun upon request. Marijuana, in the
bly alerting others.
amount present, is decriminalized in the State of
Illinois, meaning the characters can legally at most
If Alert: they will be hiding in their bedroom
write them a ticket. A further search of the remain-
with the lights off. They will immediately surrender.
der of the apartment will turn up nothing of note.

Whether alert or surprised the 3 Gangsters

(use the Gangsters sidebar in Chapter 6 for Dice
Pools, if necessary) will immediately surrender.

This should foreshadow some of the ethical

and moral dilemmas the players may face. They
have no real grounds on which to cuff (or execute,
as Vasquez may want to do) any of these NPCs.
And yet, it should be clear (INT + Subterfuge, dif-
ficulty 7 if they don’t figure it out) that any of these
squeaky clean MS-13 members would immediate-
ly communicate police presence upstairs if given
half the chance. This should give the players some
pause for thought, and hopefully a create well and
extensively role-played conversation about what
to do next.

31
 Chapter 5
Building Exterior and Basement
The Alley
A narrow alley just wide
enough for a car to drive beside
the overflowing trash bins crammed
against the building wall leads
to a cramped parking lot with a
half-dozen aging cars wedged into
it. Only two spots are vacant; one
nearest the stairs cut into the
ground leading to the basement fire
door and one over which the pave-
ment has been dug up revealing
raw Earth. A rusty black iron fire
escape winds its way up the back
of the building.
The cars parked here have nothing of in-
terest in them. They belong to various residents.
The parking space which is paved but unoccupied
belongs to the Cartel - vans arrive here at varied
times to load or unload drugs or cash. The un-
paved parking space is a possible escape route
for El Chango Grande via his Protean ˜˜˜ Earth
Meld ability.
Two entrances are provided here; the
basement door and the external fire escape. The
basement door lock can be picked by Officer Jud-
son automatically. Similarly, jumping up to pull
down the retracted fire escape ladder is an auto-
matic action for any of the characters. Climbing the
fire escape should also require no roll, however
climbing the fire escape quietly requires a DEX +
Stealth roll.
The Basement
Discarded bags of concrete
mix lay next to the elevator door.
Power meters tick in a staccato
beat. A syncopated hum of washing
machines rolls on. A dryer cater-
wauls a harsh buzzing sound. Tele-
com lights blink in a mechanical
sequence.
32
Both the fire escape door and the eleva-
tor door open onto a large open space containing
3 coin operated washing machines and dryers, a
broken and empty change machine mounted on
the wall, and two cheap folding tables for folding
and organizing clothes.
A hallway leads to the exterior basement
door at the rear of the building. The telephony,
internet, and cable TV routing equipment and de-
marc for these, as well as all of the power lines,
breakers, and main power switches are accessi-
ble mounted in various places along the walls of
this hallway. They are locked with simple padlocks
which can be picked or broken automatically.
Shutting off the main power is simple and
requires no special skill or roll. However this will
also disable the elevator. Attempting to flip breakers
and isolate certain areas is more difficult. The build-
ing is old and has been rewired, shoddily, several
times. Labels are missing, incorrect, or unreadable;
cabling is a mass of patchwork spaghetti. Judson
may attempt to find specific switches with an INT
+ Technology roll, difficulty 6 (Characters without
dots in Technology may not make an attempt). A
botch should cause Judson to flip the wrong switch,
possibly alerting the Cartel to their presence.
Tapping into any communications is similar-
ly difficult (INT + Technology, 6). No phone taps will
produce any information as the Cartel members all
use burner phones. Similarly, sensitive Cartel infor-
mation such as accounting is kept on air gapped
(non-networked) computers. At the Storyteller’s
discretion, security cameras on the 4th floor may
be IP based, allowing Judson to access them with
an Extended INT + Technology roll, difficulty 7, re-
quiring 5 successes, each roll taking 10 minutes.
Some construction materials from the Car-
tel’s remodel of the 4th and 5th floors are discarded
in the basement, though nothing of use. A success-
ful INT + Investigation roll, difficulty 6, will allow any
Player to know that some major construction or re-
modeling was performed here relatively recently.
 ACT I: ANOTHER BUG HUNT

Building Exterior and Basement

33
 Act II:
Express Elevator
to Hell

Through me you pass into the city of woe:

Through me you pass into eternal pain...
-Dante Alighieri, The Inferno

Summary
This Act covers the second and third
floors of the building at 426 Las Vegas Ln. Gang-
sters have occupied apartments 2C, 3B, and 3D.
In addition, a spun out and therefore somewhat
dangerous junkie couple occupies apartment 3A.
The remaining apartments are occupied by civil-
ian residents.
The building’s external fire escape from
the back alleyway leads to windows on the
second and third floor. These windows have
varied visual coverage (from black spray paint to
curtains) and varied protection (from bars easily
lockpicked to bars only opened from the inside).

Everyone living on these floors may or

may not be alert to the characters’ presence de-
pending on their actions in other scenes; particu-
larly whether the gangsters in apartment 1C were
alerted in the last Act or ended the last Act unre-
strained. Additionally, the players may skip these
two floors entirely and still accomplish their main
goals, though the mission briefing does specify
they should attempt to clear as many apartments
as possible.

35
 Chapter 6
Second Floor
Apartment 2A
Loud tejano* music can be
heard through this door. A small
crucifix has been affixed beneath
the apartment number.
When the door is opened:
A terrified looking mid 20’s
Latino man sits at a desk cov-
ered with thick hardcover books,
note-paper, and a 5 year old
laptop. Other than shelves of
Catholic knick-knacks, the remain-
der of the apartment is sparsely
furnished with a futon and small
folding table.
Hernando Delgado, a university student,
lives in this small studio apartment. He is play-
ing somewhat loud Latin music to drown out the
noise from apartment 2C while he studies for an
upcoming exam. He will be entirely unaware of po-
lice presence except in the instance of loud gunfire
from the hallway. Whether alerted or surprised, he
will surrender immediately, however his name and
choice in music may cause players to assume he
is a gangster.
*tejano is a style of Tex-Mex music incorporating
Mexican-Spanish vocals and heavy beats
Apartment 2B
The well kept, unassuming,
homely interior of this apartment
is markedly different from most
others you’ve entered thus far.
Simple but tastefully matched
furniture is arranged comfortably
throughout the room and a grandfa-
ther clock dominates one corner.
36
Apartment 2B is occupied by a middle-aged
married couple with a daughter. Al and Fannie
White will be sitting on the sofa, watching late night
TV and debating whether to call a noise complaint
on the neighbors yet again. Al White has a base-
ball bat (STR ˜˜˜, Melee ˜˜, attack dice pool
˜˜˜˜˜, damage 4(B), other STR dice pools
˜˜˜˜ all other dice pools ˜˜˜) leaned up
against the couch beside him. If the front door
is breached without the players identifying them-
selves as police he will jump up and grab his bat,
but he will not attack as soon as he realizes they
are police. If Al has heard gunfire or other warn-
ings of danger he will have his wife and daughter
hiding in the bathroom and he will be guarding the
door.
The fire escape connects to the daughter,
Loretta’s, bedroom, but the windows are covered
with curtains. Her bed is just below the window.
Anyone opening the window must make a DEX
+ Stealth check, difficulty 8 to avoid waking her.
Simply climbing in the window without noticing her
first will immediately wake her, though if players
specify they are looking into the room they will see
her (read the description below).
No surface of this pink and
purple bedroom is free of stuffed
animals except the space occupied
by the girl on the bed just be-
neath the window. Had you entered
without looking you would have
stepped directly on her.
Attempting to climb over her without wak-
ing her will require another DEX + Stealth roll, dif-
ficulty 8, and an additional DEX + Athletics check,
difficulty 6. Failing either will immediately wake
her. If she is awakened she will begin screaming,
“Daddy! Help!” which will cause Al White to run in
with his bat and attack the intruder.
ACT II: Express Elevator

Second Floor
37
 Chapter 6
Gangsters
The Sinaloa Cartel uses MS-13 gang members as soldiers, so most of these lower
level gang members are not actual cartel members. They are, however, incredibly violent
– the machete is their weapon of choice. MS-13 members are typically teens to early
20’s (most are either dead or incarcerated by 25) and vary greatly in height, weight,
body type, and appearance. Most have multiple tattoos, including facial tattoos.

Physical STR ˜˜˜ DEX ˜˜˜ STA ˜˜

Social CHA ˜˜ MAN ˜˜˜ APP ˜˜

Mental PER ˜˜ INT ˜˜ WIT ˜˜

Abilities: Athletics ˜˜ Brawl ˜˜ Melee ˜˜ Firearms ˜˜ (Pistols) Stealth ˜

Willpower ˜˜˜˜˜

Dice pools: Athletics ˜˜˜˜˜ Unarmed ˜˜˜˜˜ Firearms ˜˜˜˜˜

Melee ˜˜˜˜˜ Stealth ˜˜˜˜

All other dice pools ˜˜˜

The Machete is a weapon very popular with MS-13. To randomize gang encounters, roll
on the following chart. Weapons may instead be chosen to set a higher (more automatic
weapons) or lower (more machetes) challenge level.

Randomized Weapons (d10):

1 Unarmed (Punch) - Damage 3(B) (STR)
2-5 Machete - Damage 6 (STR +3)
6-8 Glock 17 - Damage 4, Range 20, Rate 4, Capacity 17
9 38 Special - Damage 4, Range 12, Rate 3, Capacity 6
10 Tec-9 - Damage 4, Range 20, Rate 18, Capacity 20

Similarly, the reactions of gang members, either individually or per apartment, can be
chosen or randomized.
If Alert (d10): If Surprised (d10):
1 Hands up/Surrender 1-4 Hands up/Surrender
2-6 Attack/Open fire 5-7 Dive for cover
7-9 Dive for cover 8-9 Attack/Open fire
10 Run 10 Run

38
 ACT II: Express Elevator
Apartment 2C
Ratty but comfortable couches
and chairs are strewn all around
the living room. Dim black lights
and lava lamps illuminate glowing
posters of rap and reggae icons.
West coast hip-hop thumps from an
expensive smartphone dock. hand of its occupant, though that
This apartment is a hangout for lower lev-
el gangsters. Similar to the trap apartment down-
stairs, it is intended to provide a diversion for po-
lice investigating the building. However, there are
some illegal drugs in use, including cocaine which
A.P. may try to steal, some illegal weapons, and
the occupants are unlikely to surrender without a
fight.
There are three to five male gangsters
here (dependent on the level of difficulty the Story-
teller wishes to assign) “partying” with four women.
Three of these women are gang affiliated, but still
technically unarmed civilians, while one is a full
gang member and armed and able to fight. This
should provide ample opportunity for civilian casu-
alties either from confusion or crossfire. See the
“gangsters” sidebar on page 38 for their stats and
equipment. Use dice pools of ˜˜˜ for any ac-
tions the civilians may need to take.
This apartment is also accessible from the
fire escape, which leads to a bedroom window.
The windows on this side of the apartment are
covered with curtains, though there is an opening.
If any characters approach the window and look
inside stealthily, they should find one male gang
member and one civilian female in the bedroom
(read the following description).
A wirily muscled and heavily
tattooed man and woman are entan-
gled in an intimate embrace on a
large bed with dark satin sheets.
A mirror with lines of white pow-
der, a playing card, and a rolled
up bill sit next to a handgun on
the bedside table.
Apartment 2D
Chicago football, baseball,
and hockey memorabilia and crushed
domestic beer cans fill an other-
wise unremarkable living room.
What is remarkable is the size
of the revolver clutched in the
revolver remains pointed at the
floor.
Nolan Meaney is a blue collar worker with
thick tattooed arms, a thicker gut, and sparse frizzy
blonde hair. He will answer the door in blue work
pants and a white undershirt.
Nolan feels quite strongly that the govern-
ment shouldn’t interfere in people’s personal lives
and will not recognize the authority of law enforce-
ment officers to enter his home. He will demand
to see a warrant - which only Sargeant A.P. has
- and will physically block the doorway until it is
produced, or until the a player successfully con-
vinces him (MAN + Empathy, diff 6, extended roll
requiring 5 successes) that they are not there for
him. There is nothing illegal or of note in his apart-
ment.
He is armed with a heavy revolver
(DEX ˜˜˜, Firearms ˜˜˜, attack dice pool
˜˜˜˜˜˜, Colt Python, damage 5, range 30,
rate 2, capacity 6, all other dice pools ˜˜˜),
which he will brandish at any police who enter his
apartment, but he will not open fire unless pro-
voked, attacked, or his apartment door is breached
without the players announcing themselves as po-
lice.
39
 Chapter 6
Third Floor
rock music from atop a coffee ta-
Apartment 3A ble made of a pressboard door and
some cinderblocks. A plastic bot-
Stale smoke and stale sweat
tle that has been converted into a
overlay another, more acrid scent
water pipe with pink bendy straws
as you approach this door. Loud
and a glass bowl sits next to it.
guitar driven music is easi-

ly heard from within, as are the
In the midst of an assortment
sounds of hammering.
of mismatched wooden planks sit
an emaciated man and woman, wear-
On a WIT + Streetwise, difficulty 7 roll, the
ing grubby jeans and stained, dis-
acrid scent is identifiable as methamphetamine
colored tank tops, mouths frozen
smoke. Belinda and J.B. Taylor live in this studio
open as they were in the midst of
apartment. They are hopelessly addicted junkies
an argument about which piece of
who have a tendency to get spun into various “proj-
wood should be hammered onto their
ects” that keep them awake for days on end. Cur-
bookshelf next. On seeing you, the
rently they are attempting to build a bookshelf out
woman screams, “It’s the shadow
of random bits of wood, screws, and nails pulled
people!” and they both rush you.
out of various dumpsters and salvaged from bro-
ken down furniture left on the sidewalk. They have
not slept for 76 hours. Junkies

Consequently, whether alerted to police J.B. and Belinda start with 2 health
presence (which will only happen as a result of levels of bashing damage to represent
the police knocking on their door and announcing fatigue from being awake for 76 hours,
themselves) or surprised, they will attack with im-
but they may ignore 1 die of wound pen-
provised weapons. Belinda will attempt to grapple
the nearest officer’s arm (STR + Brawl, difficulty alty due to the effects of the drug.
6, resisted by STR + Brawl on Player’s turn to get
free) and if successful will start sawing it the next Attributes: DEX ˜˜˜
round with a Saw attack. J.B. will attack with the
blunt end of his hammer until injured, at which Dice Pools: ˜˜˜, ˜˜˜˜ for DEX
point he will switch to the claw end. However, they based actions, including Melee attacks,
are not, strictly speaking, lethal, and should be
˜˜˜˜ for STR based actions as a
subdued with non-lethal force (remind the players
of this before allowing them to open fire). Killing
result of amphetamines
Belinda or J.B. should result in a Humanity roll.
Attacks:
Opening the door reveals a
dimly lit rats’ nest of shod- Belinda - Hacksaw Slash - Damage
dy furniture and filth. Stacks of 3(B) (STR -1), Saw - Damage 4
magazines tip precariously; some (STR) (requires a successful Grapple)
have already succumbed to gravity
and strewn their contents (most- J.B. - Hammer Blunt End - Dam-
ly cheap porn) across the floor.
age5(B) (STR +1), Claw End Damage
A small black dusty top-loading
CD player blares out tinny punk
- 6 (STR +2)

40
ACT II: Express Elevator

Third Floor

41
 Chapter 6

42
 ACT II: Express Elevator
Apartments 3B and 3C
Deep, dark leather couches
and armchairs frame a glass coffee
table on which bags and lines of
cocaine sit. The lighting is sub-
dued and indirect, and the music
is bass heavy trap at a low vol-
ume.
The description for apartments B and C on
this floor are the same. Both of these apartments
are gang occupied and are used as protection for
the upstairs areas as well as kickbacks for off-duty
guards to eat, sleep, shower, get high, and oth-
erwise relax. Both apartments contain numerous
unregistered weapons and illegal drugs, giving
careful players plenty of reason to make arrests.
Though they may be “off-duty”, these are
foot-soldiers and should be ready to fight. At least
3 armed gangsters should be in each apartment,
though the Storyteller should see fit to raise this
number for increased difficulty, and mix in civilians
for added confusion. The name Victoria Royce
registered to apartment C is a stolen identity. Ad-
ditionally, both apartments have windows which
open onto the rear fire escape – the windows to
both will be covered with tinfoil. Locks on both
windows can be easily defeated by Judson.
If surprised: they will be in various stages
of relaxation, but should be quick to respond with
force. Use the “if alert” table for randomized reac-
tions instead of the “if surprised” table.
If alert: they will be waiting in ambush.
They should use available cover, hide in other
rooms and closets, and otherwise be prepared for
a protracted firefight. Further, if gunfire is heard by
the gangsters in either apartment, they will check
the hallway and attempt to flank the PCs if they
are engaged in battle in the other gang controlled
apartment.
Apartment 3D
A nice old lady comes to the
door of a room in which it appears
a craft shop has exploded; nee-
dlepoint wall hangings and knit
shawls cover nearly every sur-
face, mostly in cute animal mo-
tifs. An old TV plays a re-run
of a gameshow loudly, and a small
dog growls and yaps at your feet.
Gail Weatherby, an elderly woman, has
steadfastly refused to leave this rent controlled
apartment which has been her home for decades,
despite bribes, threats, noise, and the increasing
degradation of the floor on which she lives. She
is, however, completely harmless and can even be
quite helpful. She is perfectly willing to talk at length
about, “those wayward young men who really need
a swift kick in the tuckus to set them straight.” She
may even be pushy about making tea for the nice
young police officers, and her only stat is Crafts:
Tea and Cookies at a ˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜.
Her small, yappy dog, however, will bark
aggressively and may bite at the heels of any offi-
cer who enters the apartment. Roleplaying dealing
with the dog could provide a bit of comic levity at
this point in the story. If the players investigate this
apartment before apartment A, one of the junkies
might peer out the door in response to the dog’s
yapping.
43
 Act III:
Sharp Sticks
and
Harsh Language
All I need is a sheet of paper and something to write with,
then I can turn the world upside down.
-Friedrich Nietzsche

Summary
This Act covers the fourth and fifth floors,
which have been overtaken by the Cartel. They
have bribed Braden (the building superintendent)
whilst they have broken down walls, installed secu-
rity measures, and otherwise hastily turned these
floors into a fortress. The layout and features of
both floors are identical unless otherwise noted.
The doors to apartments A and B have
been closed with plaster and sheetrock. On the 5th
floor the door to apartment C has been sealed as
well. On both floors, a security lock has been cre-
ated by installing reinforced doors on both sides
of the internal fire escape landing, which lead to a
small, monitored room. The doors are released re-
motely. A security camera covers the landing be-
tween floors three and four, and the hallway doors
on both floors.
Defeating these reinforced doors (or other
doors noted as reinforced, below) with breaching
charges requires a difficulty of 8, picking the lock
similarly requires a difficulty of 8. Breaching rounds
from Hyx’ shotgun are useless here as the doors’
material is too hard. Simply breaking down the
door with a feat of strength requires two charac-
ters to work together on an extended STR roll at a
difficulty of 9, with a total of 5 successes required.
Lower the difficulty by 1 if they use a reasonable
improvised battering ram.
Inside the security lock, the north wall has
been removed and replaced with a wire cage door,
also locked from the inside, through which employ-
ees enter into a pat down and security sweep. Only
then are they allowed through a second cage door
into the work areas and offices. Difficulty to pick

45
 Chapter 7
or breach these locks is a standard 6 (allow for an
automatic success here) and breaking it open with
brute force requires a strength feat of 4, meaning
Detective Rook or Officer Vasquez can do so auto-
matically in one turn.

The external fire escape is still accessible,

however the black painted windows have been
barred, similar to the floors below, but whereas
those have more easily defeated quick release
latches, the bars on the 4th and 5th floor windows
have heavy padlocks and require a difficulty of 7
to defeat with breaching charges or rounds. Using
either of these methods will result in the window
nearest the lock shattering. Because there is a key
lock, however, these bars can be opened by Offi-
cer Judson with a DEX + Larceny roll, difficulty 7.
The fire escape is also covered by slightly hidden
security cameras.

If the PCs specifically state they are looking

for/trying to avoid security cameras they should be
able to automatically. If they do not, however, give
the lead PC a PER + Alertness, difficulty 6 chance
to see the camera before entering its field of vision.
If they break, move, or destroy these cameras, it
takes 1d10 turns before the guard monitoring the
cameras notices and sends someone out to check
on the problem.

Any attack on either floor will result in the

guards alerting all other areas on the third through
fifth floors. If the PCs are noticed approaching from
the 4th floor elevator, the Storyteller may opt to
have El Borrado go out with her Ghouls to “greet”
the PCs... by attempting to subvert them with the
Awe effect of her Vampiric Discipline Presence ˜.
If she can, she will take them, under heavy guard,
directly to meet El Chango Grande (see El Chango
Grande’s Residence). Attempting to disarm the
PCs would break the hold Awe has on them, but
they should lower their weapons and not have
them at the ready. This option avoids a large por-
tion of the combat and focuses more heavily on
roleplaying through the remainder of the story. Do
not, however, “railroad” (force) the players into this
option; even if El Borrado’s Awe is highly success-
ful, remind the players they may spend Willpower
points to overcome the effect.

46
 ACT III: Sharp Sticks
Fourth Floor
If the PCs take the elevator:
Signs of recent construction
are evident everywhere. Concrete
dust collects in the corners,
electrical cables droop through
gaps in the ceiling tiles and some
of the fluorescent lights hang at
dangerously low angles. Hastily
erected brick, plaster, and wood
barriers cover the doors to apart-
ments A and B, while the doors to
apartment C and the fire escape
have been replaced with heavy
metal reinforced doors. Only the
door to apartment D remains un-
touched.
If the PCs take the internal stairs:
Where the short hallway from
the landing to the main apartment
hall should be stands a reinforced
metal door. A camera is perched on
the landing between the third and
fourth floor.
This floor is where large bricks of product
are broken down and individually packaged for
sale. It is divided (via renovations the Cartel has
performed) into a locker room, security area, cut
and bag room, and armory/storage/shipping room.
Drugs are moved into and out of the shipping room
via the reinforced door replacing the door to apart-
ment C, through the elevator and basement, to a
van parked in the alley behind the building. The
shipment usually occurs at a random time be-
tween 2am and 3am. Storytellers can opt to have
PCs intercept a drug shipment.
Locker Room (4D)
Cream colored freestanding
lockers line three walls of this
room; the fourth wall, to the
right of the entrance, is a row
of stall doors for bathrooms. Some
of the lockers have heavy padlocks
but many are unlocked. A clean
antiseptic smell fights a losing
battle against the reek of sweaty
clothes and urine soaked tiles.
The workers who cut and bag the product
are required to strip down to their underwear and
store their clothes here. This room also contains
the only bathrooms they can use while working, re-
quiring them to exit security and be searched first.
Both of these measures are intended to prevent
smuggling product out of the work area.
Security guards are also not allowed to
bring in keys, jewelry, watches, phones, or even
cigarettes or lighters, as any of these items may be
used to hide cameras, listening devices, or USB
drives. Security guards must also use these bath-
rooms.
Judson can automatically pick any of the
locked lockers. There is nothing of great value
here, though theoretically particularly spiteful or
greedy PCs could steal and pawn the jewelry and
phones found within. None of the phones contain
any incriminating evidence.
Security
Wire cage doors replace the
wall which formerly divided the
fire escape from apartment A, on
the other side of which is a se-
curity checkpoint reminiscent of
an airport, complete with armed
guards and a metal detector. One
guard sits at a bank of computer
screens, monitoring the security
camera feeds.
There are three guards here. The guard
monitoring the cameras, and the guard using the
hand-held metal detector are armed with Glocks.
47
 Chapter 7
The third guard is armed with an AK-47. Use the
stats in the sidebar for all guards on floors four and five.
Cut and Bag Room (4A + B)
Two extremely long black lac-
The reinforced doors on the fourth and fifth
quered tables line this room, lit
floors (except the hallway exit doors from both
by a combination of fluorescents
Safe Rooms) can all be released from one of the
and black lights. The tables are
computer terminals here. The release is password
lined with stations equipped with
protected. Only the guard monitoring the camera
digital scales and plastic baggies
feeds has this password. He can be intimidated
at which laborers clad in blue
to give it up, but not persuaded or bribed. Hacking
medical gloves, gas masks, safety
the computer requires an INT + Computers roll dif-
goggles, and underwear weigh out
ficulty 7. The cameras see into the stairwell, hall-
and individually package drugs.
way, and rooms 4A+B, 4C, 4D, 5A, 5C, and 5D.
At the far end of the room
Security Guards barely visible around a corner are
Physical STR˜˜˜ DEX˜˜˜ STA˜˜ four larger workstations at which
large bricks of packaged cocaine
Social CHA ˜˜ MAN ˜˜˜ APP ˜˜ are checked, logged, opened, cut
with adulterants, and distributed
Mental PER ˜˜ INT˜˜ WIT ˜˜ to individual packaging worksta-
tions. Batches single doses are
counted here and returned to the
Abilities: Athletics˜˜ Alertness˜˜˜
safe room through a one-way mail
Brawl˜˜ Firearms˜˜˜ Stealth˜ slot.

Willpower ˜˜˜˜˜ El Borrado and her Ghouls typically patrol

this area. Another armed Cartel Lieutenant (use
Dice pools: Alertness˜˜˜˜˜ Security Guard stats), human, collects bagged
Athletics˜˜˜˜˜ Unarmed˜˜˜˜˜ doses and takes them to the counting station. If
Firearms˜˜˜˜˜˜ Stealth˜˜˜˜ the PCs make it this far without being detected,
El Borrado will still attempt to Awe (Presence˜)
All other dice pools ˜˜˜ and influence them into meeting with El Chango
Grande instead of launching into a protracted firefight.
Equipment Workers will cower under tables during
Reinforced Clothing Armor Rating 1 combat, randomly running for any open door and
blocking the PCs lines of fire. All workers have
and one of the following: a dice pool of 3 for all rolls and no weapons or
equipment. El Borrado or her Ghouls may attempt
Glock 17 - Damage 4, Range 20, Rate to use them as human shields as well. Killing any
4, Capacity 17 of the innocents should trigger an immediate hu-
manity roll.
Tec-9 - Damage 4, Range 20, Rate 18,
If El Borrado is confronted in single com-
Capacity 20 bat, she should use her Dread Gaze (Presence
˜˜) to attempt to subdue her opponent while her
AK-47 - Damage 7, Range 150, Rate Ghouls attack them. El Borrado’s Ghouls will be
10, Capacity 30 primarily concerned with her safety.

48
ACT III: Sharp Sticks

Fourth Floor

49
 Chapter 7
It is up to the Storyteller whether the
guards, ghouls, and El Borrado will fight to the
death, surrender after being seriously wounded,
flee to the 5th floor, or flee the building entirely.
They should definitely fall back to the Safe Room
if overwhelmed initially. It is recommended that se-
curity guards flee the building or surrender if they
take lethal damage up to Mauled, while El Borra-
do’s Ghouls will cover her escape as she attempts
to flee to the 5th floor to regroup with El Chango
Grande, and then follow her if possible.
Most importantly, El Borrado and her Ghouls
are subject to Frenzy during combat. If the Storyteller
rolls or decides that they succumb to a Frenzy, they
should disregard all logic and use physical attacks and
Vampiric powers against the subject of their Frenzy. El
Borrado is also subject to Rotschrek if fire is present
at any time, such as Hyx firing his incendiary rounds,
though she will use Willpower to combat this fear.

El Borrado

Attributes:
Physical STR ˜˜˜˜ DEX ˜˜˜ STA ˜˜˜

Social CHA ˜˜˜˜˜ MAN ˜˜ APP ˜˜

Mental PER ˜˜ INT ˜˜ WIT ˜˜

Abilities:
Computers ˜˜ Dodge ˜˜ Firearms ˜˜˜˜(SMGs) Intimidation ˜˜˜(Physical Co-
ercion) Investigation ˜˜˜ Leadership ˜ Performance ˜˜˜˜(Public Speaking)
Security ˜˜ Stealth ˜˜˜ Streetwise ˜˜ Subterfuge ˜

Disciplines: Celerity ˜ Potence ˜˜ Presence ˜˜˜

Virtues: Conscience ˜ Self-Control ˜˜˜˜ Courage ˜˜˜˜˜ Humanity ˜˜˜˜˜

Willpower ˜˜˜˜˜˜

Language - English (1pt Merit)

Equipment

Kevlar Vest Armor Rating 3 Penalty 1

MAC-10(x2) - Damage 4, Range 25, Rate 18, Capacity 30

El Borrado is an 11th Generation vampire, meaning she has 12 total blood points and can
use 1 blood point per turn. She can use these blood points to activate disciplines, such as
Celerity ˜ to gain an extra action (though she loses the DEX bonus from this discipline),
to increase her physical stats by 1 per blood point spent (to a max of 6), or heal 1 health
level of bashing or lethal damage per 1 blood point spent.

50
 ACT III: Sharp Sticks
Safe Room / Shipping (4C)
Bricks of cocaine are taken in here and
logged before being sent to the Cut and Bag room,
Ghoul Guards
and the resultant individual packages are logged
again before being sent to the street for sale. One Physical STR˜˜˜ DEX˜˜˜
accountant and one guard are present here at all STA˜˜˜
times. The guard is armed with an AK-47 and the
accountant with a Glock 17. The accountant has Social CHA ˜˜ MAN ˜˜˜ APP ˜˜
the same stats as the guards but has INT ˜˜˜,
PER ˜˜˜, WITS ˜˜˜, Computers ˜˜, and Mental PER ˜˜ INT ˜˜ WIT ˜˜
no Brawl.
Abilities: Alertness ˜˜ Athletics ˜˜
One computer is present, but it is air-
gapped (not networked). Logs of shipments in
Brawl ˜˜ Dodge ˜ Melee ˜˜ Fire-
and out are stored on this computer and burned to arms ˜˜ Stealth ˜
DVDs which are also kept in this room. If alerted to
police intrusion, the accountant will systematically Disciplines: Celerity ˜˜ Potence ˜
destroy the computer and DVDs while protected
by the guard, then they will both flee the building. Blood Pool 2, Blood points per turn 1
They will not join the firefight.
Willpower ˜˜˜˜˜
Narcotics are stored in a heavy safe which
has been anchored to the floor. The safe is inside
a closet. Judson can pick the lock on the closet
All other dice pools ˜˜˜˜˜
door automatically if not under duress, but opening
the safe requires an extended DEX + Larceny roll, Weakness: Brujah (Short Fuse) - Difficul-
difficulty 7, 5 successes. ties to resist Frenzy are 2 higher

The door to the main building hallway has Equipment

no external lock or handle and can only be opened
from inside. This door is so heavily reinforced Reinforced Clothing Armor Rating 1
it cannot be opened from the outside with any
means available to the PCs. A camera mounted
above the door and physically linked to the office
AK-47 - Damage 7, Range 150, Rate
computer verifies who is outside the door before it 10, Capacity 30
is opened.

51
 Chapter 7
Fifth Floor
This floor is where more modern online
transactions are conducted (including money
laundering and selling product via dark web sites),
money is taken in and counted, and where El
Chango Grande spends his leisure time. His herd
of feeding vessels resides here full time.
Similar to the 4th floor, this floor is divid-
ed into a locker room, security area, office, money
room, and El Chango Grande’s office. The ele-
vator, stairs, hallway, and external fire-escape de-
scriptions are all identical to the 4th floor.
Locker Room (5D)
This locker room is identical to the one on
the 4th floor, except no workers on the 5th floor are
required to leave their clothes in lockers. They are
required to leave all phones, watches, and jewelry
and are searched for USB drives.
Security
This security room is identical to the one on
the 4th floor, except it does not contain the guard
monitoring the security cameras or the monitoring
computers. The space where the monitoring com-
puters would be is simply empty instead.
Office (5A)
Eight desks crammed into 2
bullpens spew fiber optic cables
across the floor. Coders hammer
away at keyboards, comforted by
noise-cancelling headphones, fac-
es awash with LED light.
The eight coders at work here perform a
variety of IT related tasks for the Sinaloa Cartel, in-
cluding monitoring dark web drug sales and laun-
dering money electronically. All except one are
52
handsomely paid independent contractors who
are unarmed; unable and unwilling to fight. They
will hide or flee in a firefight, but will be intelligent
and calculated about their safety, and will surren-
der immediately if they feel they are in danger.
They have ˜˜˜˜˜˜ for any INT based dice
pools and ˜˜˜ for all other dice pools.
The remaining black hat is a Cartel member
who primarily monitors the other seven contrac-
tors’ online activities and watches for USB drives
or other attempts to move data out of the room. He
has the same stats as the security guards, but has
INT ˜˜˜˜, WIT ˜˜˜˜, Computers ˜˜˜˜,
and no Brawl. He is armed with a Glock-17. He
will attempt to blend in with the other coders initial-
ly, taking the first advantageous shot he can get.
If aware of police presence, the coders will
begin wiping their drives then physically destroy-
ing their computers. The Storyteller may decide
how far they get before the Players arrive. The
PCs, particularly Officer Judson, should be aware
of how important recovering some digital evidence
is to their investigation.
Safe Room / Money (5C)
This Safe Room is similar in function and
design to the Safe Room on the 4th floor. How-
ever, no drugs are processed through here – the
drugs are kept separate from the money at all
times. Cash is delivered from street sales, sorted,
counted, and bundled, then stored in a safe until it
can be laundered. There should be at least sev-
eral hundred thousand dollars in the safe at any
time, with tens of thousands on tables being count-
ed and bundled.
There are two security guards and two
accountants here. In addition, there is no door
leading to the main apartment hallway; the only
door into or out of this room is through El Change
Grande’s Residence.
ACT III: Sharp Sticks

Fifth Floor

53
 Chapter 7
a large bed in which he and his three feeding ves-
El Chango Grande’s Residence sels (from his Herd Background) sleep, though he
may at times use his Earth Meld (Protean 3) ability
Soft and indirect lighting
to sleep “outside.” His Herd are the only humans in
illuminates a scene more befit-
this organization who are aware of his Vampiric na-
ting the parlor of a villa in the
ture. Two of them recline, in a drugged-out haze,
Mexican countryside than the 5th
on couches. The other is asleep in the bedroom.
floor of a mid-rise in the Chicago
sprawl. A massive parota wood desk
The door to this area is more secure than
dominates the near corner of the
the others. It can only be opened from the inside,
room; neat, organized, and topped
and if the PCs are not lead in by El Borrado their
with a green tensor banker’s lamp.
only recourse is to have A.P. set breaching charges
Opulent sofas and a small bar
and blow the door, with a difficulty of 8. Multiple at-
with a tiled mosaic frontage are
tempts are possible.
tastefully arranged throughout the
remainder of the room, oddly com-
How this final encounter plays out is ulti-
forting in contrast to the heavy
mately driven by how the players and Storyteller
reinforced door at the far west
have told the story thus far. Here are some possi-
end.
ble suggestions:
Thick blood-red curtains cover
Matias (El Chango Grande) has lived a
windows regularly spaced through-
long and colorful life, and though his interests are
out the exposed brick walls, be-
currently best served by his position within the
tween which hangs distinctly Mes-
Cartel, he is not willing to die for them. When the
tizo fine art. One painting in
PCs finally breach his inner sanctum, he should
particular draws attention; a
not immediately attack, particularly if El Borrado
gruesome scene of a cut and blood-
and her Ghouls managed to retreat to this area,
ied woman lying twisted on a bed
but El Chango Grande should make all attempts to
with a man in a fedora, slacks,
bribe, cajole, intimidate, or otherwise influence the
and a white shirt standing over
PCs to stop their raid. He will offer money, drugs,
her holding a knife.
or an ongoing beneficial relationship, initially. If the
PCs refuse:
Leaning up against the desk is
a man with long hair and a discon-
Should he believe Detective Rook is a
certingly ape-like visage -- large
Ghoul, El Chango Grande may offer Rook the Em-
ears protrude from the sides of
brace or at least a continuing supply of blood.
his head and his mouth is nearly
rounded into a snout. Two large,
El Borrado, if suitably impressed by
ornate handguns are holstered at
Vasquez’ fierceness, may offer her the Embrace.
his sides. You recognize him as El
Chango Grande.
Other PCs may be offered unlimited life-
times, and power, as Ghouls, or perhaps may all
“Ah, come in,” he begins,
be Embraced and become vampires.
“I’ve been expecting you...”
El Borrado, if she has not before, will use her
This suite of rooms carved out of apart-
Presence to Awe the PCs into submission while El
ments 5A, 5B and 5C (minus the space in 5A given
Chango Grande uses Dominate to insure their coop-
over to the office and 5C given over to the safe
eration, or even to erase their memories. Heavy use of
room) is from where El Chango Grande rules. Be-
Vampiric persuasion should be the focus of this scene.
sides the main room there is a bedroom containing

54
 ACT III: Sharp Sticks
If combat ensues (the PCs refuse all offers
and use Willpower to break Dominate and Pres-
ence effects), El Chango Grande should use his
1911’s at range, but Protean ˜˜ Claws if forced
into hand-to-hand combat. If he takes lethal or ag-
gravated damage beyond Wounded he should use
Protean ˜˜˜˜ to change into a bat and flee (if
the windows aren’t open he will spend one turn to
break them, and he will use 1 extra Blood Point to
change into a bat in two rounds) or Protean 3 to
Earth Meld into the exposed dirt in the back of the
building. El Borrado will Frenzy and fight until she
is put into Torpor. Finally, the two guards from the
money room will join the fray if they hear gunfire.

El Chango Grande

Attributes:
Physical STR˜˜˜˜ DEX˜˜˜ STA˜˜˜˜

Social CHA˜˜˜ MAN˜˜˜ APP˜

Mental PER˜˜ INT˜˜ WIT˜˜˜

Abilities:
Alertness ˜˜ Brawl ˜˜˜˜ (Claw) Finance ˜˜ Firearms ˜˜˜ (Pistols)
Leadership ˜˜ Intimidation ˜˜ Melee ˜˜˜ Occult ˜ Politics ˜˜ Stealth ˜˜˜
Streetwise ˜ Subterfuge ˜˜

Backgrounds:
Domain ˜˜ Herd ˜ Resources ˜˜ Status (Gang) ˜˜˜

Disciplines: Protean ˜˜˜˜ Fortitude ˜˜ Dominate ˜˜˜

Virtues: Conscience ˜˜ Self-Control ˜˜˜ Courage ˜˜˜˜˜ Humanity ˜˜˜˜˜ Willpower

˜˜˜˜˜˜

Language - English (1pt Merit)

Equipment

Colt 1911 (x2) - Damage 5, Range 25, Rate 3, Capacity 7

El Chango Grande is a 9th Generation vampire, meaning he has 14 total blood points and
can use 2 blood points per turn. El Chango Grande may use blood points to raise phsyical
stats and heal, the same as El Borrado, but Protean is his only discipline which requires
the use of blood points.

55
 Epilogue

Life is a great sunrise. I do not see why death

should not be an even greater one.
-Vladimir Nabokov

• Evidence such as bricks of cocaine, cash,

A New Dawn
As dawn nears what situation do A.P., Hyx,
Vasquez, Judson, and Rook find themselves in?
Are they all still alive? Dead? Undead? Have they
made a deal with the Cartel, perhaps not knowing
El Borrado and El Chango Grande are vampires?
Or have they vanquished their foes after witness-
ing unexplainable phenomena?
Victory Conditions
and hard drives recovered
• Civilian casualties avoided
World of Darkness goals
• Any or all of the team enter into a profit-
able arrangement with the Cartel
• Any or all of the team become vampires
or ghouls
• The team vanquishes El Borrado and El
Chango Grande

Any of the following could be considered Individual goals

victory conditions for the team as a whole or indi-
viduals:
Police goals
• A reasonable number of arrests for cause
• Vasquez gets revenge by killing at least
one Cartel member
• A.P. manages to stash some drugs
• A.P., Vasquez, and Judson manage to

57
 Chapter 8
steal some cash
• A.P., Vasquez, and Judson convince Hyx to
join their scheme
• Hyx kills a vampire with fire or otherwise
has proof of their existence
• Rook gains vampire blood or an ongoing
relationship with one of the vampires
The Debrief
Regardless of whether the PCs became
vampires or not, or joined the Cartel or not, they
should want to maintain their identities and po-
sitions as police officers for the time being. This
means that there are consequences to their ac-
tions: every shot fired; every casualty; every piece
of evidence; every fire, whether from incendiary
rounds or otherwise; and certainly every corpse
staked through the heart, must be explained or
covered up.
The best way to wrap up the story is to
debrief the PCs as Lieutenant Korman. Roleplay
through what the characters want to do to hide
their misdeeds before they call in the paddy wag-
on. This should include players explaining their
characters’ actions to each other and possible re-
veals of some of their secrets. Then, once Korman
arrives on the scene and prisoners are moved to
the police transport, roleplay their debriefing. Con-
sider what evidence an independent police investi-
gation might turn up. Grill the players as Korman,
but give them the benefit of the doubt.
Granting Experience Points
Since this chapter typically takes two to
four sessions to complete, the Storyteller may opt
to grant experience at the end of each session as
follows (though it is unlikely the characters will ac-
cumulate enough points to advance):
• One point – Automatic: everyone gets one
point at the end of each session
• One point – Learning Curve: each player
can state what they learned during the session
• One point – Roleplaying: the player played
their character well, following their nature and de-
58
meanor
• One point – Heroism: the character put his
or herself in danger to help another or achieve a
goal
At the end of this story, the following are
suggestions for granting experience points:
• One point – Success: the team or player
accomplished any of the goals above
• One point – Danger: anyone surviving this
story has certainly experienced danger
• One point – Wisdom: a plan the player or
character came up with contributed significantly to
the team’s success.
Moving On
All of this helps to set the stage for future
World of Darkness games. Despite the existence
of the supernatural there is a functioning society
not unlike our own, wherein rules are expected to
be followed. Because this story is meant to serve
as an introduction to the World of Darkness and
Vampire: the Masquerade in particular, the story
may simply end here. Players can create Vampire
characters and play a more traditional Vampire:
the Masquerade chronicle.
However, it would be very possible to con-
tinue with these characters. If they have become
vampires or ghouls, how do they adjust to their
new lives? If they chose instead to fight the dark-
ness and El Chango Grande has escaped, they
can track him down while researching ways to de-
stroy vampires, perhaps starting a Hunters chroni-
cle.
Eplilogue

Rook lifted his head from the charred undead

corpse on the ground, mouth running with blood.
The sun was rising, but he was sated for another
30 days... if only he could convince his
teammates.
Appendices
Appendix A - PC Character Sheets
Appendix B - NPC Stats
Appendix C - Equipment List
Appendix D - Maps
Blank S.W.A.T. Character Sheet
Appendix A
PC Character Sheets
A.P. (Albert Pone) is a former high school athlete
and marine who has been on the force since
finishing two combat tours. His natural athletic
talents and knowledge of explosives and dem-
olitions earned him his promotion to the SWAT
team; his military experience and leadership
ability earned him his first command. However,
in the decade since he joined the SWAT
team, and to mitigate the trauma of
his tours of duty, he has developed a
well hidden, yet serious cocaine
addiction which colors his every
move.
As a direct result, A.P. has be-
come a dirty cop. He is not
currently on the take to any
particular organization, but
will sometimes take short-
cuts such as planting
evidence to meet his
arrest quota, and will
mis-report cash seizures
and cocaine busts so he can
steal some for himself. He has
worked with Vasquez and
Judson previously and knows
he can trust them to partici-
pate, but Hyx is new to his
squad and the further pre-
sence of Rook is particularly
troubling on this raid.
Nature - Conniver:
The Conniver always tries to
find the easy way, the fast track
to success and wealth. Some
people call him a thief, a
swindler, or less pleasant
terms, but he knows that
everybody in the world
would do the same if they
could. He just does it first,
and better.
62
A.P. can regain Willpower whenever he can
trick someone into doing something for him
(though not by issuing command orders) or
convince someone to help him against their
best interest.
Demeanor - Director: To the Director, nothing
is worse than chaos and disorder. The Direc-
tor seeks to be in charge, adopting a “my
way or the highway” attitude on matters of
decision-making. The Director is more
concerned with bringing order out of strife,
however, and need not be truly “in control”
of a group to guide it.
A.P. is an Explosives expert. He
carries the following explosives:
Breaching Charges (x5) - WITS
+ Crafts to set, one success
required to successfully breach
the target, with the difficulty
determined by the target’s
toughness and complexi-
ty. Damage 0(L) to targets
within point blank range
only.
Flash Bang Grenades (x8) - DEX
+ Athletics, Difficulty 6 to
throw. 1Damage is maximum
at the point of impact, one die
less for each yard between the
grenade and the target. Targets
who take at least one point of dam
age are Dazed (cannot act on their
next turn) and all targets in the area
of effect are Blinded (+2 to Difficulty
on all actions) for Damage - their STA
turns.
 S.W.A.T.
Name and Rank:

A.P.
Staff Sgt.
Specialty: Exlposives Nature: Conniver Player:
Age: 34 Demeanor: Director XP:
Attributes
Physical Social Mental
Strength ˜˜˜™™ Charisma ˜˜™™™ Perception ˜˜˜™™
Dexterity ˜˜˜™™ Manipulation ˜˜˜™™ Intelligence ˜˜™™™
Stamina(Tireless) ˜˜˜˜™ Appearance ˜˜™™™ Wits ˜˜˜™™
Abilities
Talents Skills Knowledges
Alertness ˜˜™™™ Animal Ken ™™™™™ Academics ™™™™™
Athletics(Throwing) ˜˜˜˜˜ Crafts(Demolitions) ˜˜˜˜™ Computer ™™™™™
Awareness ™™™™™ Drive ™™™™™ Finance ™™™™™
Brawl ™™™™™ Etiquette ™™™™™ Investigation ˜˜™™™
Empathy ™™™™™ Firearms (SMGs) ˜˜˜˜™ Law ˜˜™™™
Expression ™™™™™ Larceny ™™™™™ Medicine ™™™™™
Intimidation ˜™™™™ Melee ™™™™™ Occult ™™™™™
Leadership ˜˜™™™ Performance ™™™™™ Politics ™™™™™
Streetwise ™™™™™ Stealth ˜™™™™ Science ™™™™™
Subterfuge ˜˜˜™™ Suvival ™™™™™ Technology ™™™™™

Advantages
Flaw Cocaine Addiction ˜˜˜™™ ™™™™™ Virtues
™™™™™ ™™™™™ Conscience ˜˜™™™
™™™™™ ™™™™™ Self Control ˜˜˜™™
™™™™™ ™™™™™ Courage ˜˜˜˜˜
™™™™™ ™™™™™ Humanity
™™™™™ ™™™™™ ˜˜˜˜˜™™™™™
Weapons Willpower
Name Damage Range Rate Capacity Conceal ˜˜˜˜˜˜™™™™
H&K MP5 (S) 4 50 3* 30+1 T ££££££££££
Sig Sauer P226 4 20 4 12+1 J
Health
Flash-Bang Grenade 0(B)1 15 1 8 -
Bruised £
Hurt -1 £
Other Equipment Injured -1 £
Wounded -2 £
Name Effect
Mauled -2 £
Flak Jacket Protection 4 Dexterity Penalty 2 Crippled -5 £
Breaching Charge See Text Incapacitated £
* Capable of three round bursts, full auto, and sprays (S) Suppressed 123
See Text

63
 Hyx is second in command. He grew
up in a small town in the South, where he
eschewed video games for real outdoor activi-
ties with his father, learning how to hunt with a
shotgun at the age of ten. Hicks talks extremely
quickly and is skilled at getting people to agree
to things before they even realize what they are
agreeing to.
Hyx has seen some odd things in his career as a
police officer. Due to his superstitious upbring-
ing and some research into unexplained phe-
nomenon, Hicks is convinced Vampires exist
and can be killed by fire or sunlight (represent-
ed by his ˜ in Occult). He can roll INT + Oc-
cult, Difficulty 6 to possibly know other infor-
mation about vampires or the Occult in general.
His Merit: Scent of the Vampire means he can
sense when a Vampire is near, though he does
not know whom or where. He is always mildly
uncomfortable around Detective Rook, though
not as uncomfortable as he might around a
Vampire.
One Damage success required to defeat target,
difficulty based on strength/complexity of tar-
get.
Taser XREP (x15) - Fires a small, self-contained
Taser that will incapacitate targets. Damage is
0(B) but a successful hit (even with no damage
rolled) causes a Knockdown effect and Dazes
the target for 3 turns (plus 1 turn for every suc-
cess on the hit roll above 3, for a maximum of
6).
Incendiary (x5) - Fires pellets of ignited magne-
sium which burn at 3000°F. The pellets them-
selves do a base Damage of 0 (additional suc-
cesses on the hit roll are still rolled as normal
damage), but 2 automatic fire damage. On a hit
of 5 or more successes, the target also catches
fire and takes 2
automatic fire
damage per turn
until extinguished.

Nature - Cavalier: The Cavalier is as bold, in-

trepid, valiant and fearless as he needs to be to
complete his duty. He is the hero who tries to
live up to glorious ideals and codes of justice.
Hyx regains Willpower whenever he manages
to accomplish a significant task which positive-
ly affects the group.

Demeanor - Survivor: No matter what happens,

no matter the odds or opposition, the Survivor
always manages to pull through.

Hyx is equipped with a Remmington 870 Shot-

gun which can fire several unique rounds. The
effects of these are as follows2:

Breacher Rounds (x15) - Normal Damage at

point-blank range, bashing damage at short
range, no damage past short range. Used to
blow locks and hinges off doors.

64
 S.W.A.T.
Name and Rank:

Hyx
F.T. Officer
Specialty: Firearms Nature: Cavalier Player:
Age: 26 Demeanor: Survivor XP:
Attributes
Physical Social Mental
Strength ˜˜™™™ Charisma ˜˜˜™™ Perception ˜˜˜™™
Dexterity(Swift) ˜˜˜˜™ Manipulation ˜˜˜™™ Intelligence ˜˜˜™™
Stamina ˜˜˜™™ Appearance ˜˜™™™ Wits ˜˜™™™
Abilities
Talents Skills Knowledges
Alertness ˜˜˜™™ Animal Ken ™™™™™ Academics ™™™™™
Athletics ˜˜˜™™ Crafts ™™™™™ Computer ™™™™™
Awareness ™™™™™ Drive ™™™™™ Finance ™™™™™
Brawl ™™™™™ Etiquette ™™™™™ Investigation ˜˜˜™™
Empathy ˜˜˜™™ Firearms(Shotguns) ˜˜˜˜™ Law ™™™™™
Expression ™™™™™ Larceny ™™™™™ Medicine ™™™™™
Intimidation ˜˜™™™ Melee ™™™™™ Occult ˜™™™™
Leadership ™™™™™ Performance ™™™™™ Politics ™™™™™
Streetwise ™™™™™ Stealth ˜˜˜™™ Science ™™™™™
Subterfuge ™™™™™ Suvival ˜™™™™ Technology ™™™™™

Advantages
Merit Scent of the Vampire ˜˜˜™™ ™™™™™ Virtues
™™™™™ ™™™™™ Conscience ˜˜˜™™
™™™™™ ™™™™™ Self Control ˜˜™™™
™™™™™ ™™™™™ Courage ˜˜˜˜˜
™™™™™ ™™™™™ Humanity
™™™™™ ™™™™™ ˜˜˜˜˜™™™™™
Weapons Willpower
Name Damage Range Rate Capacity Conceal ˜˜˜˜˜˜˜™™™
Colt M4 7 150 3* 30+1 N ££££££££££
Remmington 870 81
20 1 5+1 T
Health
Bruised £
Hurt -1 £
Other Equipment Injured -1 £
Wounded -2 £
Name Effect
Mauled -2 £
Flak Jacket Protection 4 Dexterity Penalty 2 Crippled -5 £
Incapacitated £
* Capable of three round bursts, full auto, and sprays (S) Suppressed 123
See Text

65
Vasquez is from the Sinaloa area of Mexico, and She has the following additional hand-to-hand
as such speaks Spanish. Her family emigrated combat maneuvers:
to the U.S. when she was young, but not be-
fore she saw her older brother get hooked and Kip-up - Vasquez may recover immediately
eventually OD on Sinaloa cocaine. She joined from a knockdown, without a roll required, and
the “War on Drugs” as a police officer (and was only suffer -1 to Initiative on the next turn.
later promoted to SWAT for her ruthless effi-
ciency) to get revenge on Latin gang-bangers in Handstand Kick - A kick from an inverted, hand-
general, but has a specific hatred for the Sinaloa stand position. Difficulty +1, Damage 6(B) +
Cartel. Knockdown of target. -1 Initiative for Vasquez
next turn.
Vasquez’s Flaw, “Vengeance”, means she will ig-
nore police procedure. She will not typically ar- Back-flip Dodge - Vasquez can move up to her
rest or subdue any Cartel members, but instead full movement rate in a direct line away from
assassinate them unless stopped. She is smart the attacker, while simultaneously
enough to attempt to goad them into firing first, performing the Dodge ma-
or enter rooms alone and claim she was fired neuver, and may dodge
upon. She will participate in theft of cash, par- subsequent attacks
ticularly drug money, perpetrated by A.P. and from other sources
Judson. as normal.

Nature - Bravo: The Bravo is a tough and a bully, She is also a

and often takes perverse pleasure in torment- combat medic,
ing the weak. To the Bravo’s mind, might makes meaning she can
right. Power is what matters, and only those with perform First Aid
power should be respected. Naturally, physical on minor wounds.
power is the best kind, but any kind will do. The
Bravo sees overt threats as a perfectly reason-
able means of gaining cooperation. Vasquez
can regain Willpower anytime she achieves her
agenda through brutishness or intimidation.

Demeanor - Competitor: The Competitor takes

great excitement in the pursuit of victory. To the
Competitor, every task is a new challenge to
meet and a new contest to win. Indeed, the
Competitor sees all interactions as some
sort of opportunity for her to be the best —
the best leader, the most productive, the most
valuable, or whatever.

Vasquez is an amateur student of Capoeira (a Bra-

zilian martial art of somewhat limited popularity in
Mexico, which she continued to study in the U.S.).

66
 S.W.A.T.
Name and Rank:

Vasquez
Officer
Specialty: Medic/HtoH Nature: Bravo Player:
Age: 28 Demeanor: Competitor XP:
Attributes
Physical Social Mental
Strength(Legs) ˜˜˜˜™ Charisma ˜™™™™ Perception ˜˜˜™™
Dexterity ˜˜˜™™ Manipulation ˜˜™™™ Intelligence ˜˜˜™™
Stamina ˜˜˜™™ Appearance ˜˜˜™™ Wits ˜˜˜™™
Abilities
Talents Skills Knowledges
Alertness ˜™™™™ Animal Ken ™™™™™ Academics ™™™™™
Athletics ˜˜˜™™ Crafts ™™™™™ Computer ™™™™™
Awareness ™™™™™ Drive ™™™™™ Finance ™™™™™
Brawl (Capoeria) ˜˜˜™™ Etiquette ™™™™™ Investigation ˜˜™™™
Empathy ™™™™™ Firearms (SMGs) ˜˜˜˜™ Law ™™™™™
Expression ™™™™™ Larceny ™™™™™ Medicine ˜˜™™™
Intimidation ˜˜™™™ Melee ™™™™™ Occult ™™™™™
Leadership ™™™™™ Performance ™™™™™ Politics ™™™™™
Streetwise ˜˜™™™ Stealth ˜˜˜™™ Science ™™™™™
Subterfuge ™™™™™ Suvival ˜™™™™ Technology ™™™™™

Advantages
MeritCombat Maneuvers ˜˜˜™™ ™™™™™ Virtues
Merit Spanish ˜™™™™ ™™™™™ Conscience ˜™™™™
Flaw Vengance ˜˜™™™ ™™™™™ Self Control ˜˜˜˜™
™™™™™ ™™™™™ Courage ˜˜˜˜˜
™™™™™ ™™™™™ Humanity
™™™™™ ™™™™™ ˜˜˜˜˜™™™™™
Weapons Willpower
Name Damage Range Rate Capacity Conceal ˜˜˜˜˜˜˜™™™
H&K MP5 (S) 4 50 3* 30+1 T ££££££££££
Sig Sauer P226 4 20 4 12+1 J
Health
Bruised £
Hurt -1 £
Other Equipment Injured -1 £
Wounded -2 £
Name Effect
Mauled -2 £
Kevlar Vest Protection 3 Dexterity Penalty 1 Crippled -5 £
Incapacitated £
* Capable of three round bursts, full auto, and sprays (S) Suppressed 123
See Text

67
Judson is the only Chicago native on the SWAT
team. He is originally from the South Side and
is very familiar with the local street and criminal
culture. He’s also naturally gifted at mechanical
and electronic systems, and was caught break-
ing and entering just after his 18th birthday and
given the option of jail or military service.
68
After he completed his court-ordered enlist-
ment he joined the SWAT team directly. He
shares a history of military service with Ser-
geant A.P., so though he is flippant and irrev-
erent, and given to bragging about being the
ultimate bad-ass, he will generally follow A.P.’s
orders without question. Additionally, he, will
participate in the theft of cash, particularly drug
money, perpetrated by A.P. and Vasquez.
Nature – Curmudgeon: A Curmudgeon is bitter
and cynical, finding flaws in everything and see-
ing little humor in life or unlife. He is often fatal-
istic or pessimistic, and has very little esteem for
others. To the Curmudgeon, the glass is never
more than half-full, though it may be damn near
empty when other people are involved. Judson
may regain a point of Willpower whenever he
predicts a specific negative outcome before it
happens. This can be said aloud to the whole
squad, or privately to the Storyteller.
Demeanor – Thrill Seeker: The Thrill-Seeker lives
for the rush of danger. Unlike those of arguably
saner disposition, the Thrill-Seeker actively pur-
sues hazardous and possibly deadly situations.
The Thrill-Seeker is not consciously suicidal or
self-destructive — he simply seeks the stimula-
tion of imminent disaster.
Fast Reflexes - Judson gets +2 to all Initiative
rolls
Mechanical Aptitute - Judson gets -2 to difficul-
ty to all rolls involving mechanical devices (in-
cluding locks).
Danger Sense - Judson occasionally gets a “bad
feeling” warning him of impending danger.
 S.W.A.T.
Name and Rank:

Judson
Officer
Specialty: Infiltration Nature: Curmudgeon Player:
Age: 22 Demeanor: Thrill Seeker XP:
Attributes
Physical Social Mental
Strength ˜˜™™™ Charisma ˜˜™™™ Perception ˜˜˜™™
Dexterity (Precise) ˜˜˜˜™ Manipulation ˜˜™™™ Intelligence ˜˜˜™™
Stamina ˜˜˜™™ Appearance ˜˜™™™ Wits ˜˜˜™™
Abilities
Talents Skills Knowledges
Alertness ˜˜˜™™ Animal Ken ™™™™™ Academics ™™™™™
Athletics ™™™™™ Crafts ™™™™™ Computer ˜˜˜™™
Awareness ™™™™™ Drive ™™™™™ Finance ™™™™™
Brawl ™™™™™ Etiquette ™™™™™ Investigation ˜™™™™
Empathy ˜™™™™ Firearms (SMGs) ˜˜˜˜™ Law ™™™™™
Expression ™™™™™ Larceny(Lockpicks)˜˜˜˜™ Medicine ™™™™™
Intimidation ™™™™™ Melee ™™™™™ Occult ™™™™™
Leadership ™™™™™ Performance ™™™™™ Politics ™™™™™
Streetwise ˜˜™™™ Stealth ˜˜˜™™ Science ™™™™™
Subterfuge ™™™™™ Suvival ™™™™™ Technology ˜˜˜™™

Advantages
Merit Danger Sense˜˜™™™ ™™™™™ Virtues
Merit Fast Reflexes ˜˜™™™ ™™™™™ Conscience ˜˜™™™
Merit Mechanical Aptitude ˜™™™™ ™™™™™ Self Control ˜˜˜™™
™™™™™ ™™™™™ Courage ˜˜˜˜˜
™™™™™ ™™™™™ Humanity
™™™™™ ™™™™™ ˜˜˜˜˜™™™™™
Weapons Willpower
Name Damage Range Rate Capacity Conceal ˜˜˜˜˜˜˜™™™
H&K MP5 (S) 4 50 3* 30+1 T ££££££££££
Sig Sauer P226 4 20 4 12+1 J
Health
Bruised £
Hurt -1 £
Other Equipment Injured -1 £
Wounded -2 £
Name Effect
Mauled -2 £
Flak Jacket Protection 4 Dexterity Penalty 2 Crippled -5 £
Incapacitated £
* Capable of three round bursts, full auto, and sprays (S) Suppressed 123
See Text

69
Rook is a ghoul; a human who has tasted
Vampire blood and gained some vampiric
powers. He appears to be 28 years old but is
actually around 60. Hoewver, he must con-
sume vampire blood once every 30 days or
age at an accelerated rate until he reaches 60.
Tonight is his last few hours.
The vampire who originally fed him was a
Nosferatu, meaning he has inherited that Clan’s
weakness (Ugly). He has sunken, dark rimmed
eyes, thinning hair, and pock-marked skin. This
is reflected in his APP of ˜.
His Occult of ˜˜ represents the following
knowledge:
Vampires are real, Vampires can be kill-
ed by fire or sunlight, Vampires can be
immobilized by a stake through the
heart, Vampires cannot eat food or drink
anything other than blood. He can roll
INT + Occult, Difficulty 6, to possibly
recall other information about
Vampires or the Occult.
Nature - Loner: Even in a
crowd the Loner sticks out,
because he so obviously
does not belong. Others
view Loners as remote
and isolated, but in truth
the Loner prefers his
own company to that of
others. Rook can regain
Willpower whenever he
accomplishes something
by himself.
Demeanor - Conformist:
The Conformist is a follower,
taking another’s lead and find-
ing security in the decisions
70
of others. He prefers not to take charge, in-
stead seeking to throw in with the group and
lend his own unique aid.
Rook is ostensibly a melee weapons specialist,
but this specialization secretly reflects time
spent honing his ability to stake vampires
through the heart in combat in order to feed
from them (DEX + Melee roll, difficulty 9,
requiring 3 successes). He carries 3 wooden
stakes, concealed, which are broken on a failed
attempt at staking a vampire. He is also highly
skilled with a baton for subduing enemies and
knives for killing humans.
Rook has additional abilities as a Ghoul.
He starts with 2 points of Vampire blood,
which can be used to heal wounds (1
point for 1 wound level per turn).
He has learned the following Vampiric
Disciplines:
Celerity ˜ - Adds 1 die to DEX rolls.
Fortitude ˜ - Adds 1 die
to STA rolls and allows
Rook to add 1 die to
soak rolls for Lethal Damage.
Obfuscate ˜ - Rook can
not be seen if he is be-
hind cover, out of direct
light, quiet, and
motionless.
Potence ˜ - Adds one
die to STR rolls and 1one
automatic damage to STR
based attacks (the +1 on
these actions is one
automatc damage).
 C.P.D.
Name and Rank:

Rook
Detective
Specialty: Close Combat Nature: Loner Player:
Age: 60 (28 app.) Demeanor: Conformist XP:
Attributes
Physical Social Mental
Strength ˜˜˜™™ Charisma ˜˜™™™ Perception ˜˜™™™
Dexterity ˜˜˜™™ Manipulation ˜˜˜™™ Intelligence ˜˜˜™™
Stamina ˜˜˜™™ Appearance ˜™™™™ Wits ˜˜™™™
Abilities
Talents Skills Knowledges
Alertness ˜˜˜™™ Animal Ken ™™™™™ Academics ™™™™™
Athletics ˜˜˜™™ Crafts ™™™™™ Computer ™™™™™
Awareness ™™™™™ Drive ™™™™™ Finance ™™™™™
Brawl ˜™™™™ Etiquette ™™™™™ Investigation ˜˜™™™
Empathy ˜™™™™ Firearms ˜˜˜™™ Law ™™™™™
Expression ™™™™™ Larceny ™™™™™ Medicine ™™™™™
Intimidation ™™™™™ Melee ˜˜˜™™ Occult ˜˜™™™
Leadership ™™™™™ Performance ™™™™™ Politics ™™™™™
Streetwise ™™™™™ Stealth ˜™™™™ Science ™™™™™
Subterfuge ˜˜˜™™ Suvival ™™™™™ Technology ™™™™™

Advantages
Disciplines ™™™™™ Virtues
Celerity ™™™™™ Conscience ˜™™™™
˜™™™™
Fortitude ™™™™™ Self Control ˜˜˜˜™
˜™™™™
Obfuscate ™™™™™ Courage ˜˜˜˜˜
˜™™™™
Potence ˜™™™™ Blood Pool ˜˜˜ Humanity
£££ ˜˜˜˜˜™™™™™
Weapons Willpower
Name Damage Range Rate Capacity Conceal ˜˜˜˜˜˜™™™™
Ruger Redhawk 6 35 2 6 J ££££££££££
Collapsible Baton 5(B)+1 1
- - - P
Health
Combat Knife 4+11 - - - J
Bruised £
Stake (x3) 4+11 - - - J Hurt -1 £
Other Equipment Injured -1 £
Wounded -2 £
Name Effect
Mauled -2 £
Kevlar Vest Protection 3 Dexterity Penalty 1 Crippled -5 £
Incapacitated £
* Capable of three round bursts, full auto, and sprays (S) Suppressed 123
See Text

71
Appendix B
NPC Stats
Emmanuel Braden (Building Superintendent) pg. XX

Dice Pools: Crafts 6, Security 6, Firearms 5, Subterfuge 5

Willpower: 6

All other dice pools: 4

Equipment: Remington 870 (Shotgun) - Damage 8, Range 20, Rate 1, Capacity 5+1

MS-13 (Gangsters) pg. XX

Attributes: STR 3, DEX 3, STA 2, CHA 2, MAN 3, APP 2, PER 2, INT 2, WIT 2

Abilities: Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Melee 2, Firearms 2 (Pistols), Stealth 1

Willpower: 5

Dice pools: Athletics 5, Unarmed 5, Firearms 5, Melee 5, Stealth 4

All other dice pools: 3

Equipment: One of the following: Unarmed (Punch) - Damage 3(B) (STR), Machete
- Damage 6 (STR +3), Glock 17 - Damage 4, Range 20, Rate 4, Capacity 17, 38 Spe-
cial - Damage 4, Range 12, Rate 3, Capacity 6, Tec-9 - Damage 4, Range 20, Rate 18,
Capacity 20

J.B. and Belinda Taylor (Junkies) pg. XX

Attributes: DEX 3

Dice pools: 3, 4 for DEX based actions including Melee attacks, 4 for STR based ac-
tions as a result of amphetamines

Attacks: Belinda - Hacksaw Slash - Damage 3(B) (STR -1), Saw - Damage 4 (STR)
(requires a successful Hold), J.B. - Hammer Blunt End - Damage5(B) (STR +1), Claw
End Damage - 6 (STR +2)

Security Guards pg. XX

Attributes: STR 3, DEX 3, STA 2, CHA 2, MAN 3, APP 2, PER 2, INT 2, WIT 2

Abilities: Athletics 2, Alertness 3, Brawl 2, Firearms 3, Stealth 1

Willpower: 5

Dice pools: Alertness 5, Athletics 5, Unarmed 5, Firearms 6, Stealth 4

Security Guards (cont.)

All other dice pools: 3

Equipment: Reinforced Clothing Armor Rating 1 and one of the following: Glock 17
- Damage 4, Range 20, Rate 4, Capacity 17, Tec-9 - Damage 4, Range 20, Rate 18,
Capacity 20, AK-47 - Damage 7,
Range 150, Rate 10, Capacity 30

Ghoul Guards pg. XX

Attributes: STR 3, DEX 3, STA 3, CHA 2, MAN 3, APP 2, PER 2, INT 2, WIT 2

Abilities: Alertness 2, Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Dodge 1, Melee 2, Firearms 2, Stealth 1

Disciplines: Celerity 2, Potence 1

Blood Pool 2, Blood points per turn 1

Willpower: 5

All other dice pools: 5

Weakness: Brujah (Short Fuse) - Difficulties to resist Frenzy are 2 higher

Equipment: Reinforced Clothing Armor Rating 1, AK-47 - Damage 7, Range 150, Rate
10, Capacity 30

El Borrado pg. XX

Attributes: STR 4, DEX 3, STA 3, CHA 5, MAN 2, APP 2, PER 2, INT 2, WIT 2

Abilities: Computers 2, Dodge 2, Firearms 4 (SMGs), Intimidation 3 (Physical Co-

ercion), Investigation 3, Leadership 1, Performance 4 (Public Speaking), Security 2,
Stealth 3, Streetwise 2, Subterfuge 1

Disciplines: Celerity 1, Potence 2, Presence 3

Blood Pool 12, Blood points per turn 1

Virtues: Conscience 1, Self-Control 4, Courage 5,

Humanity: 5, Willpower: 6

Language: English (1pt Merit), speaks Spanish natively

Equipment: Kevlar Vest Armor Rating 3 Penalty 1, MAC-10(x2) - Damage 4, Range

25, Rate 18, Capacity 30
El Chango Grande pg. XX

Attributes: STR 4, DEX 3, STA 4, CHA 3, MAN 3, APP 1, PER 2, INT 2, WIT 3

Abilities: Alertness 2, Brawl 4 (Claw), Finance 2, Firearms 3 (Pistols), Leadership 2, Intimida-

tion 2, Melee 3, Occult 1, Politics 2, Stealth 3, Streetwise 1, Subterfuge 2

Backgrounds: Domain 2, Herd 1, Resources 2, Status (Gang) 3

Blood Pool 14, Blood points per turn 2

Disciplines: Protean 4, Fortitude 2, Dominate 3

Virtues: Conscience 2, Self-Control 3, Courage 5,

Humanity: 5, Willpower 6

Language: English (1pt Merit), speaks Spanish natively

Equipment: Colt 1911 (x2) - Damage 5, Range 25, Rate 3, Capacity 7

Appendix C
Equipment List
Armor
Type Armor Dexterity Used by
Rating Penalty
Reinforced Clothing 1 0 Security Guards, Ghoul Guards
Kevlar Vest 3 1 Vasquez, Rook, El Borrado
Flak Jacket 4 2 A.P., Hyx, Judson

Melee Weapons
Weapon Damage Used by
Baseball Bat Strength +1 (B) 1
Al White
Collapsible Baton Strength +2 (B)1 Rook
Combat Knife Strength +1 Rook
Hacksaw (Slash) Strength -1 (B)1 Belinda Taylor
Hacksaw (Saw) Strength2 Belinda Taylor
Hammer (Blunt End) Strength +1 (B)1 J.B. Taylor
Hammer (Claw End) Strength +2 J.B. Taylor
Machete Strength +3 MS-13 (Gangsters)
Protean Claws Strength +1 (A)3 El Chango Grande
Stake Strength +1 Rook

1
Denotes weapon does bashing damage, unless targeted at the head
2
Belinda must successfully Hold her opponent before performing this attack
3
This weapon inflicts aggravated damage

Firearms
Weapon Damage Range Rate Capacity Used by
38 Special 4 12 3 6 MS-13 (Gangsters)
AK-47 1
7 150 10 30 Security Guards, Ghoul Guards
Colt 1911 5 25 3 7 El Chango Grande
Colt M4 1
7 150 3 30+1 Hyx
Colt Python 5 30 2 6 Nolan Meaney
Glock 17 4 20 4 17 MS-13 (Gangsters), Security Guards
H&K MP5(S) 1 2
4 50 3 30+1 A.P., Judson, Vasquez
MAC 10 1
4 25 18 30 El Borrado
Remmington 870 8 20 1 5+1 Emmanuel Braden, Hyx
Ruger Redhawk 6 35 2 6 Rook
Sig Sauer P226 4 20 4 12+1 A.P., Judson, Vasquez
Tec-9 1
4 20 18 20 MS-13 (Gangsters), Security Guards

1
Denotes this weapon is capable of three-round bursts, full auto, and sprays
2
Denotes this weapon is suppressed (silenced)
Appendix D
Maps
Basement and Exterior
First Floor
Second and Third Floors
Fourth Floor
Fifth Floor
 City of Chicago
TENANT REGISTRATION FORM

Property Address: 426 Las Vegas Ln., Chicago, IL 60609

Emergency / Management Contact: Emmaneul Braden

Emergency / Management Address: 426 Las Vegas Ln. #1B

PROPERTY INFORMATION

# of Units: 19 Owner Occupied: No

Unit # Occupant Name(s)

1B Emmanuel Braden
1C Chris Sandoval
1D Justin Moto, Adrianna Moto
2A Hernando Delgado
2B Al White, Fannie White
2C Carlitos Silva
2D Nolan Meaney
3A James Byron Taylor, Belinda Taylor
3B Luis Jimenez
3C Victoria Royce
3D Gail Weatherby
4A Uther Shulze, Beatrix Thompson
4B Gabriel Campana, Marzia Felix
4C Leocadio Rodriguez
4D Leonard Fox
5A Walther Stigsson
5B Diana Abbate
5C Brad Collingwood
5D Rufino Cabrera
 S.W.A.T.
Name and Rank:

Specialty: Nature: Player:

Age: Demeanor: XP:
Attributes
Physical Social Mental
Strength ˜™™™™ Charisma ˜™™™™ Perception ˜™™™™
Dexterity ˜™™™™ Manipulation ˜™™™™ Intelligence ˜™™™™
Stamina ˜™™™™ Appearance ˜™™™™ Wits ˜™™™™
Abilities
Talents Skills Knowledges
Alertness ™™™™™ Animal Ken ™™™™™ Academics ™™™™™
Athletics ™™™™™ Crafts ™™™™™ Computer ™™™™™
Awareness ™™™™™ Drive ™™™™™ Finance ™™™™™
Brawl ™™™™™ Etiquette ™™™™™ Investigation ™™™™™
Empathy ™™™™™ Firearms ™™™™™ Law ™™™™™
Expression ™™™™™ Larceny ™™™™™ Medicine ™™™™™
Intimidation ™™™™™ Melee ™™™™™ Occult ™™™™™
Leadership ™™™™™ Performance ™™™™™ Politics ™™™™™
Streetwise ™™™™™ Stealth ™™™™™ Science ™™™™™
Subterfuge ™™™™™ Suvival ™™™™™ Technology ™™™™™

Advantages
™™™™™ ™™™™™ Virtues
™™™™™ ™™™™™ Conscience ˜™™™™
™™™™™ ™™™™™ Self Control ˜™™™™
™™™™™ ™™™™™ Courage ˜™™™™
™™™™™ ™™™™™ Humanity
™™™™™ ™™™™™ ™™™™™™™™™™
Weapons Willpower
Name Damage Range Rate Capacity Conceal ™™™™™™™™™™
££££££££££

Health
Bruised £
Hurt -1 £
Other Equipment Injured -1 £
Wounded -2 £
Name Effect
Mauled -2 £
Crippled -5 £
Incapacitated £

85
 C A G O
CHI
S.W.A.T. Five vetaran police officers.
One late night drug raid.
Vampires.
Chicago S.W.A.T. is an introductory story for Vampire: the
Masqerade.

Chicago S.W.A.T. includes:

• 5 pre-generated characters, complete with
backgrounds and personalities.
• A complete adventure to guide Storytellers
and players into the world of Vampire.
• New optional rules for combat medicine
and short term derangements.
• New weapons, equipment, and combat
maneuvers.