LUNARIOUS

A One-Shot for Beginners

Elyse Haws
“Portions of the materials are the copyrights and trademarks of
Paradox Interactive AB, and are used with permission. All rights
reserved. For more information please visit
worldofdarkness.com.”
 Summary Intro:
Each member of the coterie receives a
message from their respective Primogen
letting them know they’ve been summoned
by the Prince tonight and to meet him
downtown at the King’s Viel Hotel. They know
that in just two nights there will be a large
gathering of all the city’s kindred at Elysium.
The Prince of your city has been missing for
They all arrive in their own way of
almost a month now and the city is beginning
transportation.
to sense a power vacuum. The Seneschal
summons the coterie to his penthouse to
discuss helping to find the Prince before the
next gathering in two nights' time. Will the
yteller's Notes
coterie be able to navigate trapped havens,
Stor
political maneuvering, and fang-snapping are
f u s e t h e P rince’s call
combat all in one night? Or will they too re
Th ose w h o h e r if f of the city
,
become victims of the Camarilla bloodlust? yt h e s
picked up b go
a b r ie l, a n d f o r ce d to
G

Content Warning:
Blood, Gore, Mutilation, Self Mutilation, O r you
can b r
Betrayal, Gaslighting, Gothic Madness, of fre ibe the
e b loo m with
Vampirism, Blood Drinking, Violence, Faction th e y ' r d to d r th e p r
e h ung ink, es omise
ry. p ecially
Warfare, Vampire Cannibalism, Toxic if
Relationships

1
 The King’s Veil
Hotel - Arrival:
The King’s Veil Hotel is the pinnacle of
imposing glass and steel. Deep within
Ventrue territory, the gold-etched sign
beckons the coterie inside. Inside the
revolving glass door, they find the
lobby to be empty except for one
security guard named Cassie, at the
front desk busy with her work
computer. Across from here are
mirrored elevators that sport floor
indicators atop them in a 1920s art
deco style.

If the group speaks to Cassie, they will

say to go right up, and that they are
expected. The guard is human and if
pressed, will offer their wrist in blood
to the coterie after a Persuasion +
Charisma success of 2.

2
 Travel:
Storyt
eller's
If q u e s
tion e d as
Notes
n e on at to w h y
es, h e e th e s e
doesn ’ x p lains it
t w an t is beca
m ore p to rais use h e
ow e rfu e th e a
l kindr l a rm s of
th e y m ed in t th e
ight se h e c
to ta ke e this as it y , as As the Coterie leaves they should decide
th e p o s an opp
th e m s e ition of o r t unity
lves. Prince how they are going to get to the Prince’s
for
Haven. Typically they will use one or two
cars but whoever drives will need to
make a Dexterity + Drive check to see
how smooth the ride goes.

After they agree the Seneschal hand them a

Allow your players to sit in the car for a
slip of paper with the address on it.
moment before arrival and use this time
as an in-character ice-breaker. Remind
them they are all strangers to each other
and allow them the space to discuss

The Mad
themselves and their previous
conversation with the Seneschal.

Prince: Remember, new players might be a little

shy at first, it's important to give them
space to feel out their character and the
game. Travel is a perfect way to do that.
The Prince is obsessed with the moon and
the stars and when the moon becomes When you feel enough time or
more and more full he becomes more conversation has passed and it is a
and more unhinged without someone dramatically appropriate moment, move
there to ground him. This culminates in onto the next scene.
every full moon being nearly maddening
for him and he secludes himself in his own
Haven. Yet, tonight’s moon is a waning
gibbous, not full.

3
4

The party may attempt to climb the
latticework by making a Dexterity + Athletics
check with a success of 3 or more. They may
also use the Discipline Soaring Leap to get
up.
Entering into the unlocked second-story
balcony will reveal a bedroom. A soft king-
sized bed with deep purple bedding, an
antique dresser, and a wardrobe hugged
the opposite end of the room, and the vanity
before them had a massive mirror that was
clearly smashed.
An Intelligence + Occult role with 3 or
more successes will alert them to this
being an artistic rendition of the symbol
of Clan Malkavian.
If the party enters from above or tries to
explore another room, the most striking
thing the group will notice is the still body
of an unknown person on the floor. Their
clothes were torn off as they laid face
down on the carpet. Their back ripped
up and bloody, their neck torn up ‘A
razor’s blade cuts deep, but she shines on
still.’ carved into their flesh. Upon further
inspection through various powers or Wits
+ Investigation success of 2 or more, will
reveal that they are human and dead.
The exit to either the garage or the bedroom
will lead them into the foyer, either through a
side door or down a staircase respectively.
The Prince’s
Haven - Foyer:
The foyer of the Prince’s haven has strangely
no furniture and leads to two large hallways
in the back of the room and two swooping
staircases on each side that lead to the
bedroom. The floor is 30ft across and is
decorated with two kinds of large tiles. Black
ones and white ones, each with a circle
pattern on it. They line the floor in a
checkerboard pattern. This is a trap.
If the coterie stops and looks around,
succeeding in wits and awareness check,
the room they will notice a crown along the
wall of the room (the wall trim near the
ceiling). It has a pattern of moon phases on it
but strangely the new moon phase is missing.
This is a hint to not step on any ‘new moon
tiles’, the black ones. If they do, the sharp
gothic chandelier above them will come
crashing down and cause serious damage
to most of them. To avoid the trap after
triggering it the kindred within 30ft of the
chandelier’s AOE will need to make a high-
difficulty Dexterity + Athletics check to leap
out of the way.
5
 If they fail they take 4 points of superficial damage.

The Storyteller should encourage the players to try and heal themselves as
they explore the haven by rousing their blood and making a Rouse Check.

If they succeed they take no damage as they roll out of the way.

At the end of the foyer are the two halls, one leading left, and one leading right.
Once the coterie clears the chandelier trap they can choose which hallway to go
down. The right one leads to the study and the left leads to an observatory.

The Left Hallway - Observatory The Right Hallway - Study

Down the left hallway is how they

progress the story. It leads to an
observatory where there is a massive
The right hallway leads to the study.
telescope pointed upward. There is a
This room is decorated with a number
series of levers on the wall and some
of books of all kinds, fiction to non,
scattered notebook pages along the
and has a beautiful oak wood desk
floor.
that has been stained and polished.
There is also the same crown along
There is also a trunk in this room.
the wall as in the foyer and a
bookshelf on the wall in this room.

6
The Notebook Pages:
The notebook pages are mostly
about the phases of the moon,
craters, and stars, but if the coterie
succeeds in an investigation and wits
check they can fit the papers
together to create a hidden phrase
amongst the notes. It says, “Foul
Judas, Betrayer of Jesus”.
The Lever System:
The lever system is stuck in place and
can only be moved with 3 successes
on Brawl + Strength. If the coterie uses
the lever system in here the ceiling will
open up to reveal the night sky.
Where again the coterie will see the
same waning gibbous moon as
before. But if they look into the
telescope, they will see a full moon.
With a Wits + Awareness success of 2
or more, they find out that the
telescope has been tampered with to
only show a full moon at all times. It
does this by using a thin piece of glass
enchanted by the discipline
Chimerstry that has been placed
between the sights and the end of
the scope.
Books:
The books here are all kinds of novels,
historical books, and even some NASA
magazines. Nothing of super
importance but if the coterie passes
an investigation and wits check, they
will find a note pressed in between
the pages. It is a scrap from a
calendar of this month, each day
marked with a gradual moon phase
until each day is a repeating full
moon. The writing gets shakier and
shakier as it continues to mark full
moons.
Desk:
The desk has a ledger in it that has a
record of every boon the Prince has
currently with small notes next to
them.
Some examples:
“Major from Prim. Malk - Taking the
Praxis”
“Minor to Sen. Thaddeus - Stepped on
his foot, shoes worth $500”
“Minor from Neonate Gretel - As a
gift”
7
 Trunk:
The trunk in this room is locked at high
difficulty. (Storyteller’s discretion) but if
The Crown of Moons:
the coterie manages to break into it,
Along the wall is the crown of the
or break it open, inside is a number of
moon phases. By making a science
old memorabilia.
and intelligence check, the coterie
can notice all the moon phases that
There are pictures of Thaddeus and
culminate on the bookshelf on the
Krosious together appear to be
wall in this room. All ending at the full
friends sharing a candid moment.
moon phase.
There are some letters in here from
before Krosious was Prince talking
Bookshelf:
about various previous events in the
The bookshelf in this room is actually a
city such as werewolf attacks, a
secret door. By investigating the
haunted home, or anarch movement
bookshelf the coterie will see all kinds
into the city. The two seem extremely
of academic research but one copy
close allies.
of Goodnight Moon. By pulling on this
book the bookshelf will unlock and
As the coterie investigates the letters,
reveal itself to be a door leading
they will notice that over time the
down to a basement level.
letters have gotten more distant and
more strictly professional between the
two of them.

Storyteller's Notes
If you are
short on tim
bookshelf e y o u can p
door in the u t th e
o b s e r v a to r s t u d y and skip th
y room . O r e
doesn’t see if t h e coterie
Goodnight
o b s e r v a to r Moon in th
y, simply p e
shelf. ut it on the
library

8
9
 The Prince’s
Haven - Exiting:
Once the coterie is leaving the haven they
will be stopped by (1+ the Number of PCs) of
enemy kindred.
Increase the number of NPC enemies
based on how many fighting-inclined PCs
you have.
These NPCs have one kindred leader who
says they are thankful for finding the Prince
for them and are happy to take him off their
hands. They describe how it was a pain to try
and dig through this haven for him.
Each NPC will have a health track of 5 to 8
depending on how strong your coterie is.
There should be at least one Brujah leader,
one gangrel, and one nosferatu. From there
the Storyteller can create more NPCs as
needed.
The Prince is in no mental condition to fight
as he has been mentally tortured for a
month.

If the coterie seems like they are

agreeing to the gang's terms, have the
Prince offer them boons.

The coterie may agree to turn the Prince

over to this gang, if they do so the gang
will leave and destroy the Prince off-
screen. They then will be given a card to
come see the Anarchs in a few nights
when this has all blown over.

If the coterie refuses the gang will attack

them.

10
NPCS:
Gangrel
Brujah (Norman Jones) Nosferatu (Patti Rice)
(Tyrone Willams)

Disciplines: Disciplines: Disciplines:

Clerity: Animalism: Animalism:
Rapid Reflexes Sense the Beast: Bound Famulus
Feral Whispers
Potence: Fortitude:
Lethal Body Resilience Obfuscate:
Uncanny Grip Enduring Beast Cloak of Shadows
Unseen Passage
Presence: Protean:
Awe Eye of the Beast Potence:

Health Track: Health Track: Health Track:

⃞⃞⃞⃞⃞ ⃞⃞⃞⃞⃞⃞ ⃞⃞⃞⃞⃞
Weapons: Weapons: Weapons:
Baseball Bat Knuckles Glock 19
Melee +1 Melee +1 Ranged +1

Once the NPCs are defeated or dealt

with, the coterie can finally return to the
Seneschal at the King’s Viel Hotel.

11
 King’s Viel Hotel
- Return:
When the coterie arrives Thaddeus will thank If anyone stays behind with the Prince they
them profusely and ask the Prince to sit by will hear him faintly whisper. By using Auspex
the window and see that the moon is indeed + Awareness, or making a high success on
not full. The Prince will half-heartedly agree Wits + Awareness roll, they will hear, “Judas
as he is still mostly shaken. and Jesus, Moonlit plots, in the garden we
stand. One kiss away” This is to lead the
Thaddeus will usher the coterie away from coterie to the idea that Thaddeus is really
the Prince and ask to have a word with behind all of this.
them. Confessing he has recently lost faith in
the Prince and found that because of his The coterie may react in a number of ways:
recent behavior, is unfit to serve the city as
Prince. He asks what the coterie thinks and They can take Thaddeus up on his offer
suggests he take over since he had been and help him secure the position as
fulfilling the Prince’s duties for some time now Prince.
anyways. They can expose him and his plot to the
Primogen council, which will, in turn, show
The coterie here may have pieced up and when the Prince comes to, will
together the fact that Thaddeus is the enact the blood hunt and diablerize
one who set Krosious up and may Thaddeus.
confront him on this. If confronted his Or they can destroy Thaddeus
concerned demeanor will vanish and themselves.
sheer brutal professionalism will set in.
Confessing to being after the position
himself for some time and simply did not
have the political sway just yet to pull this
off. He then will offer the coterie boons
and more promises of prowess within the
city after he formally secures the position.
He just needs them to support the lie that
the Prince had totally lost himself and was
destroyed in his madness.

12
 Siding with Krosious: Siding with Thaddeus:

If the coterie decides to keep the

Prince from being destroyed, he
finally comes too and puts the
remaining pieces of the puzzle
together for the coterie. Saying he
knew that Thaddeus was acting very
strange and he could have been in
danger, he retreated to his bunker
where he couldn’t see the moon
phases anymore. Which led to his loss
of functionality. He admits he is
extremely hurt by Thaddeus’s betrayal
after they have been through so
much together.
If the coterie sides with
Thaddeus they can destroy the
Prince there and now or
Thaddeus will tell them he will
take care of it.
Thaddeus will approach the
Prince and cruelly grab him by
his jaw and force him to look at
the moon. “You were just a
phase.”

Then he sentences Thaddeus to be Then Thaddeus will shove

blood hunted either by the coterie,
Krosious out of the window,
the city, or the Primogen council who
smashing the glass and hurtling
is in the room. Thaddeus will attempt
to flee but will likely be destroyed the Malkavian Prince to the
there in the room by the monstrous ground below.
attack.

Either way, the coterie decides, they will be rewarded with a blood boon from
Krosious himself to the entire coterie for saving him, or a blood boon from Thaddeus
for keeping his secret and allowing his plot to pass.

A more ambitious player may try to get a court position from the
Prince/Thaddeus for their work and should be rewarded either Herald or Keeper
or even possibly a new Seneschal and the cycle continues.

13
 Ending

After the Coterie makes their decision and the fallout ends, each player should go
through with a quick epilog of what their PC does next in the coming nights. This
should be kept short and sweet to give each player a chance to wrap up their
thoughts and characters.

Afterward, have the players stick around. Ask them what their favorite part was and
what they liked most about the game. This is not just to get valuable feedback but
also to bring your players back to the real world after the game of horror and
politics. Ask them if they had fun and thank them for playing.

14
 Credits

Portions of the materials are the copyrights and trademarks of Paradox Interactive
AB, and are used with permission. All rights reserved. For more information please
visit worldofdarkness.com.

This is not official World of Darkness material.

If you liked this one shot, stay tuned for more VtM Content from me!

You can find me on my social media at:

@ElyseHaws on Twitter and Bluesky

@scipper54 on Instagram

And here on Storyteller’s Vault!

15
 Credits
Credits:

Written and Designed By: Elyse Haws

@ElyseHaws

Custom Artwork by: James Johnson

@johnsonhavoc

Photo Credits:
Special Thanks to:
Aron Visuals

ATL By Nig
Cottonbro Studio
https://ww ht
w.atlbynig
ht.net/
José Gomez

aming
Play Testers:
Gehenna G hennagaming.com/
w.ge
Ben Geller https://ww

Kara Talcott

Nik Lyon
Lore By Night
https://www.you
Paula Hunt tube.com/chann
el/UCJuq
zjmv66mqW0vT
gZKlYPA
Richard Stauffer

Sam Brancheau

Sean Gallagher

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