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One thing never taken into account when we talk about Vampire the Masquerade is just how little time vampires have in a day.
Humans, if they live a healthy life, have two thirds of a day to do stuff. In a pinch, three quarters or even more. Vampires have half a day, and no ability to extend that. Plus, their feeding tends to consume a lot of time in itself.
I don't think it is very frequently impressed upon the player just how incredibly limiting this is.
@dawngreeter you can influence this by picking your season to run it in too, if the city is far enough north or south.
Want it to feel frenetic? Run over midsummer equinox and limit how much twilight they can stand. Where I am, that gives you 9 hours to fit everything you need to do into your day. Do you really want to drive out to the outskirts, what with that two hour long trip there and back? Oh, hunting didn't go well and took 3 hours? Well, then I guess you can't spend as much of the night finishing that project as you thought.
And the inverse works too - in winter you could get 14 hours, longer if its cloudy....
@aeduna But even 14 hours is significantly less than what humans get. Unless you go for a 30 Days of Night scenario, vampires will always have significantly less time.
I think in most cases we kind of handwave this. And it's not necessarily a bad thing, but I feel there's something to be gained by tackling it head on.
@dawngreeter i dunno, I think 14 hours of active time is coming relatively close to a mortal's day.
If you don't have to hunt every day, then you've got 14 hours vs mortal's 24 minus 8 hours sleep (ha. ha.) and 2 hours of meals.
@dawngreeter I mean you just need to keep a winter home and a summer home. I'm thinking Southern Australia and Northern Washington. And you spend your equinoxes on a boat traveling from one to the other so you can chase the long nights across the globe
It's why their clothes are always so out of style. They just don't have time to keep up.
@cgsines That is one way in which being a vampire and having a small child are alike.
A small pale child that never ages? Yeah, I understand.
@dawngreeter Of course they must also save a lot of time through not needing to shower, shave, brush teeth, go to the toilet, all that business. Just rise unruffled and go straight to the rave or boardroom or what have you.
@si_fuller Counterpoint: most were embraced in less than perfect condition and may need a shave and even a haircut every night.
@dawngreeter I only just remembered, I once had a character who was a Settite, and their sire made them grow their hair and beard for two years before embracing them. As a vampire, they'd cut their hair every night, and would have an instant disguise if needed.
I don't think I ever used the disguise, it was just a background colour thing.