Immortal History

What is your game called, anyway?

Eyes That Burn wasn't always known by that name. The first title of this game was actually 'Night Always Moves First'. In 1992 my Rifts game had come to its conclusion and I wanted to try something different. And nothing was more different from Rifts than the relatively new game called Vampire: the Masquerade.

After much cajoling and beseeching, I recruited the following players, all of whom were part of the gung-ho mob of players from my Rifts game. And that probably explains why this part of the chronicle ended up the way it did...

  • Eric Arnett, playing David Fix, a Toreador. Demeanor: Loner, Nature: Survivor. Concept: Struggling artist.
  • John Wampole, playing Kleus Muiller, a Malkavian. Demeanor: Loner, Nature: Visionary. Concept: Catholic priest and scholar.
  • Robert Verkest, playing Fred, a Malkavian. Demeanor: Bon Vivant, Nature: Deviant. Concept: Gutter punk with complete amnesia of everything before his (very recent) Embrace.
  • Ken Jensen, playing Mattias Blymire, a Tremere. Demeanor: Cavalier, Nature: Perfectionist. Concept: Corporate accountant.
  • Doug Goldben, playing Anthony Vincent Dimaggio, a Brujah. Demeanor: Traditionalist, Nature: Bon Vivant. Concept: Mafia boss.

The unlives of these neonates were spectacular and short, and the repercussions of their exploits are still felt throughout Detroit to this night. In the course of ten game sessions they managed to embarrass the Prince and their sires during a Kindred gathering, destabilize the Detroit Camarilla's power structure, steal an important artifact (The Tapestry) from the place it had been safely kept for centuries and allowed the childe of an insane Methuselah to gain possession of it, brokered a deal with a Sabbat leader and helped smuggle his pack into Detroit, violated the Masquerade several times (once committing three near-catastrophic breaches in the same night), made enemies of the city's Anarchs by agreeing to join them and then blaming their own crimes on them, wantonly slaughtering mortals and vandalizing buildings without trying to cover up what they did, and diablerizing a Gangrel Ancilla just before meeting with her sire and the Sheriff and telling them what they did in a mocking tone. All this happened because the players were too lazy to read the rulebook, I didn't explain what Vampire was about well and the players were still used to the over-the-top tone of the previous Rifts game. At least all the players had fun, up until their characters were staked and publicly tortured to death anyway. Oh well, live and learn (or die and learn in this case). I never would have thought I would be running the game this long, and I'm sure some of those players would be surprised that 'Night Always Moves First' is still regularly played.

Immortal History