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Once, Charlotte was an unremarkable town in the center of North Carolina.

During the Civil War, military factories transformed the city into an industrial
powerhouse. Charlotte did not cling to a romanticized vision of its antebellum past
after the war, but instead embraced closer commercial and cultural ties with its
Yankee neighbors on the Atlantic shoreline. In the 1970s, deregulation lured
investment from the corporate world, including major banks, and today Charlotte
rivals Wall Street with its advanced banking sector. As a major metropolis of the
New South, the Queen City is a thriving city with a bright future ahead.

Yet there is a cancer growing inside Charlotte, wicked and potent, present there
since its colonial beginnings. A triple alliance of Toreador, Ventrue, and Tremere
elders dominate local Camarilla politics, their political approaches as archaic as their
thinking. Tensions with the other clans are boiling to the surface after centuries of
harsh repression. While bloodshed has yet to spill onto the streets, the backroom
intrigues and growing schemes could be just as destabilizing to the triple alliance.

Charlotte by Night includes:

• A list of notable NPCs in Charlotte, including the tyrannical Queen Phoebe;
• A thorough but concise history of the Camarilla in Charlotte;
• An outline of the major neighborhoods of Charlotte, with Kindred domains; and
• Storytelling suggestions for running a politically themed, family drama game.
 Chapter One:
Charlotte by
Night
All happy families resemble one another; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Once, Charlotte was an unremarkable town in The Cainite conflicts of Charlotte are familial
the center of North Carolina. During the Civil in two senses. First, undead influence cuts hard
War, military factories transformed the city into along clan lines, with high status conferred on
an industrial powerhouse. Charlotte did not cling clans considered patrician within the sect.
to a romanticized vision of its past after the war, Second, these clans have canny, formidable
but instead embraced closer commercial and vampires as leaders who have sired circles of
cultural ties with its Yankee neighbors on the childer to act as their allies. While these “families”
Atlantic shoreline. In the 1970s, deregulation are by no means entirely united, sire matters as
lured investment from the corporate world, much as clan founder for all Charlotte’s Kindred.
including major banks, and today Charlotte rivals This chapter provides a general outline for a
Wall Street with its advanced banking sector. As a Camarilla chronicle set in Charlotte. Its theme is
major metropolis of the New South, the Queen emphasizing family conflict, with socially oriented
City is a thriving city with a bright future ahead. and political campaigns in mind. Players should
Yet there is a cancer growing inside Charlotte, take the role of childer to Charlotte’s power
wicked and potent, present there since its players, fighting as proxies against one another or
colonial beginnings. A triple alliance of against a common enemy. They could also defy
Toreador, Ventrue, and Tremere elders the plans of their sires altogether to pursue
dominate local Camarilla politics, their political forbidden romance à la Romeo and Juliet or blaze
approaches as archaic as their thinking. Tensions their own trails. Just as with mortal families, the
with the other clans are boiling to the surface drama of family life offers myriad possibilities for
after centuries of harsh repression. While creative Storytellers to pursue with their players.
bloodshed has yet to spill out onto the streets, the
backroom intrigues and growing schemes could
be just as destabilizing to the triple alliance.
 Kindred of Note Skills: Etiquette 4 (High Society), Melee 1, Stealth 3
Knowledges: Finance 2, Law 3, Politics 4
Phoebe Sutherland, the Queen of Charlotte – Disciplines: Auspex 3, Celerity 2, Dominate 2,
The megalomaniacal, manipulative matriarch of Fortitude 3, Presence 5
the local Camarilla, the self- Backgrounds: Allies 3, Contacts 5, Herd 4, Influence
styled “Queen” (she loathes 4, Resources 4, Retainers 2, Status 5
the masculine “Prince”) is Virtues: Conscience 4, Self-Control 5, Courage 5
Humanity: 4
the embodiment of the old
Willpower: 9
Southern belle trope, almost
Ray Cartwright – Embraced in the mid-1980s
to the point of parody.
during the cutthroat heyday of Wall Street, Ray
Behind a veneer of professed
overcame years of systemic
kindness and noble airs, she rules Charlotte with
racism to earn his place on
the same merciless efficiency with which she
the trading floor, where he
administered her family’s cotton plantation in the
worked twice as hard as
19th century. The normalization of slavery in her
everyone else. His modern
youth has hardened her political convictions as
skills marked him as an up-
well as eroded her conscience, and her draconian
and-coming member of Clan
methods in dealing with “uppity” dissidents is
Ventrue, but there were elders who dismissed him
infamous. She favors the local Tremere chantry
as a “diversity hire.” He fled New York City during
but distrusts the Ventrue, who she believes covet
the battles with the Sabbat in the 1990s and set
her position. While her claims stem from pure
himself up in Charlotte, where he integrated into
paranoia, she is not incorrect.
the bank operations there. He has brought clan
Clan: Toreador
Nature: Autocrat business in the city into the 21st century but he
Demeanor: Bon Vivant disapproves of Queen Phoebe’s reactionary
Generation: 8th politics. Alliance with her is unpleasant but
Physical: Strength 3, Dexterity 5, Stamina 4 necessary, at least until he can usurp the throne.
Social: Charisma 4, Manipulation 5, Appearance 5 Clan: Ventrue
Mental: Perception 4, Intelligence 4, Wits 5 Nature: Capitalist
Talents: Alertness 4, Athletics 2, Awareness 2, Demeanor: Director
Intimidation 4, Leadership 5, Subterfuge 5 Generation: 10th
Physical: Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3 Knowledges: Computer 2, Investigation 4, Law 1,
Social: Charisma 3, Manipulation 5, Appearance 3 Occult 4 (Malkavian Lore), Politics 3
Mental: Perception 5, Intelligence 4, Wits 4 Disciplines: Auspex 3, Dominate 3, Thaumaturgy 4
Talents: Alertness 4, Athletics 2, Awareness 1, Brawl Thaumaturgical Paths: The Lure of Flames 3, Hands
2, Intimidation 3, Leadership 4, Subterfuge 4 of Destruction 2, Blood 1
Skills: Drive 1, Etiquette 3, Firearms 2, Stealth 4 Backgrounds: Allies 1, Contacts 4, Herd 2, Influence
Knowledges: Finance 4 (Banking), Investigation 2, 1, Resources 3, Retainers 1, Status 4
Law 3, Occult 1, Politics 3 Virtues: Conscience 3, Self-Control 5, Courage 3
Disciplines: Dominate 4, Fortitude 3, Presence 4 Humanity: 4
Backgrounds: Allies 3, Contacts 3, Herd 3, Influence Willpower: 7
3, Resources 4, Retainers 1, Status 4 Old Cassius – A mainstay of the Charlotte
Virtues: Conscience 4, Self-Control 5, Courage 4 Camarilla since before the Civil War, Old Cassius
Humanity: 5 has overseen the local
Willpower: 8 Nosferatu for time out of
Albert “Albie” Tolliver – A dainty and cultured mind. His open prioritization
gentleman always dressed in black, the regent of of clan ties over personal
Charlotte’s chantry sits firmly advancement has contributed
in the shadow of his more to a unique reputation for
celebrated clanmates based in integrity, at least among the Charlotte Kindred.
Raleigh-Durham. The famous Respected by almost all factions for his historic
“Research Triangle” contains impartiality and sincere concern for his clan, the
multiple research universities anarchs wish to replace Sutherland with Cassius
whose innovative contributions have tended to as their chosen figurehead. Cassius is reluctant to
outshine the Charlotte chantry. Tolliver has complicate his role as clan caregiver by getting
sought distinction by pursuing more occult involved in political games he feels he cannot win.
avenues, specializing in Kindred lore. He has He recognizes that change needs to happen,
focused his research on the Malkavian clan, however, and is willing to stick his neck out if it
intrigued by the mechanics of their shared lunacy. would mean a more tolerant and free Charlotte.
It was through his studies that he learned about Clan: Nosferatu
the mysterious Malkavian Madness Network, now Nature: Caregiver
a riddle he wants desperately to unlock and Demeanor: Survivor
exploit. He needs Sutherland’s support to acquire Generation: 9th
Malkavian subjects to experiment on, so for this Physical: Strength 3, Dexterity 2, Stamina 4
reason he is also very politically active, always at Social: Charisma 3, Manipulation 2, Appearance 0
the right-hand of Queen Phoebe. He serves as her Mental: Perception 4, Intelligence 3, Wits 4
seneschal, and while delicate in his own methods, Talents: Alertness 3, Awareness 3, Empathy 2,
Leadership 3, Streetwise 3 (Local Hideouts)
he encourages her brutal, tyrannical behavior.
Skills: Etiquette 1, Firearms 1, Larceny 3, Stealth 4
Clan: Tremere
Knowledges: Computer 2, Investigation 3, Politics 3
Nature: Perfectionist
Disciplines: Fortitude 2, Obfuscate 3, Potence 3
Demeanor: Enigma
Backgrounds: Contacts 3, Influence 1, Resources 1,
Generation: 10th
Status 3
Physical: Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3
Virtues: Conscience 4, Self-Control 4, Courage 3
Social: Charisma 4, Manipulation 4, Appearance 2
Humanity: 8
Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence 4, Wits 3
Willpower: 7
Talents: Alertness 3, Awareness 3, Empathy 4,
Intimidation 2, Leadership 4, Subterfuge 3
Skills: Drive 1, Etiquette 2, Firearms 1, Stealth 2
 Brevin Flagg – A former community organizer, tolerated Catherine because their mortal families were
Brevin knows Charlotte has the worst upward friendly in their mortal lives. Catherine considers her
mobility of any city in the U.S. enemy to be Albie Tolliver, not Phoebe, but has come
For him, this is no hollow to oppose her because she favors him and the Tremere.
Normally a sweet, genteel woman, she has sudden
impersonal statistic. He saw
periodic bursts of rage that turn into furious rants, or,
his grandparents and parents
at worst, incidents of uncontrolled frenzy and carnage.
worn down in the scramble Clan: Malkavian
just to get by as Black men and Nature: Gallant
women in a city that discriminated against them. Demeanor: Bon Vivant
He came to despise the white Christian plutocracy Generation: 10th
for much the same reasons he now undermines Physical: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3
the Charlotte Camarilla. For the last several Social: Charisma 3, Manipulation 4, Appearance 4
decades, his plan to overthrow Queen Phoebe and Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence 3, Wits 4
replace her with Old Cassius as Prince (with a Talents: Alertness 3, Athletics 2, Awareness 3,
powerful Primogen council) has gained steam. As Empathy 2, Intimidation 3, Leadership 1
Skills: Crafts 2, Etiquette 4, Firearms 1, Performance
beloved as he is among the anarchs, the elders of
4 (Singing), Stealth 2
the city despise him, which is why he cannot take
Knowledges: Academics 3, Investigation 2, Occult 2,
the throne for himself. In the long-term, he plans Politics 3
to usurp Cassius when the venerable Nosferatu is Disciplines: Auspex 3, Dementation 4, Obfuscate 3
no longer necessary to keep the peace. Backgrounds: Allies 2, Contacts 2, Herd 2, Resources
Clan: Brujah 3, Retainers 1, Status 3
Nature: Rebel Virtues: Conscience 3, Self-Control 3, Courage 3
Demeanor: Idealist Humanity: 6
Generation: 11th Willpower: 6
Physical: Strength 3, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3
Social: Charisma 4, Manipulation 4, Appearance 3 A Very Brief History
Mental: Perception 2, Intelligence 3, Wits 3 The town of Charlotte obtained its charter in
Talents: Alertness 2, Athletics 1, Awareness 3, Brawl 1768, situated at an important crossroads in the
2, Empathy 2, Expression 3 (Debate), Intimidation 2, Piedmont region. Named in honor of the wife of
Leadership 3, Subterfuge 4 (Impeccable Lies)
King George III, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-
Skills: Drive 1, Etiquette 2, Firearms 3, Melee 2,
Strelitz, settlers primarily came from Scotch-Irish
Performance 1
Knowledges: Academics 2, Computer 1, Investigation stock. This may help explain the decidedly anti-
2, Law 2, Medicine 1, Occult 1, Politics 4 English sentiment that led General Charles
Disciplines: Celerity 2, Potence 1, Presence 2 Cornwallis to refer to Charlotte as “a hornet’s nest
Backgrounds: Allies 2, Contacts 4, Influence 2, of rebellion.” There is no doubt some chemistry
Resources 2, Status 3 between this historical fact and the activity of a
Virtues: Conscience 3, Self-Control 4, Courage 3 small Brujah coterie in the area, although today
Humanity: 6 only legends remain. Whether the 1775
Willpower: 8 Mecklenburg Resolves, which rebuked the
Catherine Driscoll (10th Generation Malkavian) – Crown’s authority in the Thirteen Colonies, had
Formerly the senior Malkavian elder in Charlotte,
any Kindred influence upon them is speculation.
Catherine went into hiding after
In 1802 Charlotte became the site of the first
Tolliver began his investigations
into the Malkavian Madness recorded commercial gold mine in the nascent
Network. Queen Phoebe has long United States. While no vampire yet resided
oppressed the Malkavians, treating there, mining firms with Ventrue investment and
only the Nosferatu worse. She support took root in the local economy. These
roots spread with the development of the railway, Charlotte uninterrupted, resisting all suggestion
placing Charlotte at an enviable nexus between of a Primogen council to check her decision-
Raleigh to the north and Columbia and the port making. She views herself as a benevolent and
of Charleston to the south. This status as a major enlightened dictator saving the worst of her kind
center of transportation led to cotton processing from themselves, in addition to possessing a
as well as slave trading, the cornerstones of the greater pedigree compared to the “common folk.”
Southern economy. With the boom in commerce As part of a campaign to “beautify” Charlotte,
came Nicholas Bartlett McGowan, a Scottish Sutherland initiated a persecution of the local
Ventrue seeking to claim his domain. A cotton Nosferatu, barring them from Elysium and
trader in life, he built his undead prestige by viewing their very existence as a threat to the First
cornering the cotton market, fully confident that Tradition. Old Cassius, once an escaped slave and
Southern Slave Power would never end. It was not now a Nosferatu elder, formed a refuge in some of
a belief that all the local Kindred shared, the abandoned gold mines near the city. Many
including a far-sighted Irish Toreador named took him up on his offer, though some defiant
Michael Mahon who acted as McGowan’s sheriff. Sewer Rats formed the kernels of an anarch
In 1848 Mahon received permission to Embrace underground that swelled as Sutherland’s cruelty
and chose Phoebe Sutherland, a young socialite, became more apparent. A carousel of elegant balls
as his first childe. Mahon’s interest in the girl was and saturnalia, patronized by the Ventrue and
romantic, and while Sutherland did not consider Tremere, offered a velvet veneer to her despotism.
her sire unattractive at all, he alone was not Just as in the mortal realm, the affluent aristocracy
enough to satisfy her. By her design, the pair flourished while the downtrodden had to suffer.
began plotting against McGowan, not taking over In the 1900s the Tremere founded a small
his interests but mirroring them. They prepared a chantry in Charlotte under the direction of Albert
“domain-in-waiting,” ready to fill the vacuum “Albie” Tolliver from Savannah. Clever and
when McGowan came tumbling from his perch. charming, Tolliver before long became the toast of
They did not need powers of clairvoyance to the city and a favorite of Sutherland. He used this
know that slavery was dividing the nation, to the influence to conceal or justify inroads by chantry
point where only war could resolve the issue. members into studies of their fellow Kindred that,
North Carolina was not as eager as its southern at times, raised difficult, disturbing questions for
sister, the first state to secede, but it did so in the Queen. This Toreador-Tremere friendship
1861, and contributed a plethora of troops and and partnership forged the first two pillars of what
material to the war effort. McGowan did his would become a triple alliance, once the Ventrue
utmost to help the Confederate cause, while clan fully recovered from McGowan’s demise.
Mahon and Sutherland funded pro-Union spy The fortunes of the Ventrue finally reversed
networks and sabotage operations. Rather than with the arrival of Ray Cartwright from New York
busy themselves, they let the U.S. government in 2000. His arrival had several causes. The city’s
destroy their rival’s proxies for them. McGowan’s population had increased by more than 50
destruction during the final days of the war was percent between the early 1960s and early 1980s.
serendipity; it saved the duo the one piece of dirty With more mortals came more vampires, hunting
work they thought unavoidable. At last victorious, their prey. Also, a wave of state deregulation led
Mahon let down his guard to revel in his glory, to a surge in interstate banking based in city, with
only for his childe and lover to betray him to the local banker Hugh McColl buying Bank of
sunrise. Sutherland took power alone and claimed America and making Charlotte its headquarters in
for herself the title “Queen” in lieu of the more 1998. NationsBank and Wells-Fargo also had
traditional “Prince.” Since 1865 she has ruled their origins in Charlotte. Cartwright came to
make his name away from the crowded scenes and Charlotte, more low-income and more racially
violence of the Big Apple but found an immediate diverse. The white ruling class created this
obstacle in Queen Phoebe. Sutherland was not division on purpose, through official and
inclined to trust any Ventrue given her history, unofficial policies of segregation, discrimination,
and her racist, antiquated ways put her at odds and repression denying significant opportunities
with the Black and more modern Cartwright. His for Black residents to improve their quality of life.
immaculate grip on the local banks could not be This racial and economic stratification is
denied, however, and so Sutherland extended the nothing new in Charlotte, but the inequality is
offer of a coalition: the Toreador, Ventrue, and getting worse. As taxes rise and wages remain
Tremere working in concert, devoted to stagnant, young professionals are moving into
maintaining Cainite order and prosperity. This more affordable housing in traditionally low-
arrangement persists into the modern nights. income areas, and through a process of
Since the 2010s, Charlotte’s Malkavians have gentrification are replacing everything unique
started to vanish, and it is an open secret that about the Crescent into a sterile sprawl of retail
Tolliver is kidnapping and experimenting on giants, coffee shops, and other major franchises.
them to learn about their Madness Network (with The layout of Charlotte is that of a compact
indulgences from Sutherland, of course). In the urban core ringed by suburbs enclosed by the I-
short-term, this has turned the more coherent 486 interstate loop. Charlotte’s central district,
Lunatics of Charlotte against Sutherland’s regime, Uptown, includes the city’s main avenue, Tryon
and the case has just caught the eye of the current Street, and is undeniably the heart of all local
Malkavian Justicar. Little does Tolliver know that commerce, culture, and government. The
archons are about to put him under surveillance, Toreador and Ventrue have held the area in
which could potentially expose his experiments. common since the 2000s, both in terms of the
The Lay of the Land major institutions present there and as a feeding
grounds for members of each clan. Queen Phoebe
Today Charlotte is not one city, but two. There is especially strict about the Masquerade in
is the Wedge, a triangular-shaped slice of southern Uptown and would not knowingly permit any
Charlotte where the wealthy white ruling class Nosferatu presence there. The Sewer Rats
lives, often in gated communities, their children nevertheless have access to the sewage system and
attending private schools, among pristine parks access tunnels but use them sparingly. They are
and safe streets. Then there is the Crescent, wise to avoid the Levine Museum of the New
forming the east, west, and north parts of
South, a temple to Southern culture and history tolerant atmosphere that exists among the mortals
and long used as an Elysium by Queen Phoebe. here, even as he preys on them to sustain himself.
Most neighborhoods surrounding Uptown The focal point for Brujah activity is the Black
are firmly Toreador domains, although they vary neighborhood of Biddleville, which dates to the
in character from the family-friendly fashion of Reconstruction era after the Civil War. The
South End to the more edgy hipsters of Plaza- Biddle Memorial Institute was one of numerous
Midwood. Sutherland herself resides in a huge centers set up to teach and train the newly
Queen Anne-style manor house in Myers Park, the emancipated Black population. In 1923 the
historic upper-class district with lovely tree-lined school became the Johnson C. Smith University
streets. With state-of-the-art security and a small and still operates as Charlotte’s major historically
army of guards, her haven is designed to be a Black college. With its mixture of intellectualism
fortress should a violent revolt shake her rule. and egalitarian politics, the Brujah clan naturally
Ray Cartwright and the Ventrue center flocked to the area, and watched with anger as the
themselves in SouthPark in south-central cocaine and crack epidemics ravaged Biddleville,
Charlotte. Compressed with office buildings and with no relief or intervention coming from the
condominiums, it represents—just as Ray does— white-dominated authorities. The neighborhood
the influx of “new money” in contrast to Myers has shaped the character of the clan; many of the
Park, Sutherland, and their “old money” status. Charlotte Brujah have backgrounds in activism,
Cartwright is a frequent visitor to the SouthPark academia, or both. Their current leader, Brevin
Mall, Charlotte’s upscale shopping destination, as Flagg, was a community organizer until his
his feeding restriction limits him to preying on Embrace in the late 1980s and since then has
saleswomen (any retail clerk would do, but Ray’s advocated a radical, confrontational stance toward
homophobia means he only feeds on women). Queen Phoebe and her abuses. Since his rise in
In the northeast, the Tremere hold domain the 2000s, Biddleville has become a hotbed of
over semi-urban University City, including the anarch affairs, but it is also something of a cage, as
University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The Flagg is unwanted in most places. His every move
chantry is an abandoned research center whose is surveilled by Sutherland’s agents, to the extent
basement now serves as an extensive communal he frequently must operate via his lieutenants and
haven. Far from the activity of the city center, few childer, who are able to move about more freely.
non-Tremere Kindred find reason to go here, and The Malkavian presence in Charlotte is mostly
those who do quickly appear on the chantry’s in Ballantyne, a recent development to the city’s
radar. Tolliver spends most of his time Uptown south. It is a confused tangle of subdivisions and
with Queen Phoebe, although he has occasionally shopping centers, making it difficult to access,
sated his thirst on a hapless UNC grad student. which is precisely why those Malkavians lucid
The other “lesser” Camarilla clans have enough to escape Queen Phoebe’s persecution
subsisted in their own enclaves. The Nosferatu de reside there. Living there requires resources,
facto claim various old mine shafts from the 1800s though, since the district is a commercial center.
that lie not just under Charlotte but all over the The unofficial Malkavian leader, Catherine
county. They also move freely in the city if they Driscoll, occasionally meets with her fellow clan
stay underground or keep to the shadows, but members at the Ballantyne Resort, a four-star
Sutherland’s enforcers are on patrol every night. hotel and spa with an 18-hole Championship golf
Old Cassius spends his nights in a large mine course. Kindred avoid the Cavalry Church in
under East Charlotte, a revitalizing community south Charlotte, the city’s largest, where the aura
with a large immigrant population. He enjoys the of True Faith is strong, repelling local Cainites.
 Storytelling Cassius prefers for the Nosferatu to keep a low
profile, abstaining from active opposition,
Charlotte is a political powder keg, ready to keeping to the shadows. Driscoll, prone to flare-
explode. It is a microcosm of much of what shapes ups of violence, is more reckless and volatile, and
U.S. politics generally: wealth inequality, racism is witnessing her clanmates disappear at this very
past and present, and the preference of the ruling moment, never to be heard from again. Ironically,
class to use coercive force rather than seek reform. Cassius is poised to do something by joining
The Kindred of Charlotte, while having agency of Flagg’s planned coup, while Driscoll is so focused
their own, are themselves conditioned by these on avoiding the Tremere she is paralyzed by
same disparate political, economic, and social suspicion and anxiety. As underdogs, they would
cleavages. It is inevitable that a story set in such a welcome player assistance, although the resources
city would focus on those cleavages, but which they could supply vary. Cassius has no wealth to
one(s) and to what degree are up to the Storyteller. speak of, but he has the collective talents of the
Instead of a generic “elders versus anarchs” story, local Nosferatu, who in addition to being capable
draw on those cleavages to give the story a topical, spies are good in a scrap as well. Driscoll has more
powerful feel. Naturally, doing this also requires a material wealth, coming from “old money,” but
showing of sensitivity and good taste, since the has minimal influence or connections, save for a
political is also personal. Storytellers should do distant historical friendship with Queen Phoebe.
their research and treat the story seriously, making
sure it is detailed and realistic. Be respectful rather
than provocative, and guarantee players know the
issues that a story set in Charlotte may touch on.
It is predictable that players will turn against
Queen Phoebe given her tyrannical ways and cruel
forms of enforcement, to say nothing of her racist
views and past connection to slavery. In allying
with a rival, there are two obvious choices: Ray
Cartwright of the Ventrue or Brevin Flagg of the
Brujah. Both Cainites seek to rule in her stead. Of
the two, Cartwright is by far the more palatable
choice for Charlotte’s “respectable” Kindred, as
he would maintain the status quo, but be more
benevolent than Sutherland. Flagg is considered
too radical, something he acknowledges, which is
why he wants to use the Nosferatu leader Old
Cassius as a puppet prince, replacing him down
the road. While either individual in control of
Charlotte would take the city down two quite
different paths, both Cartwright and Flagg have
their own self-interest as their top priorities. They
want power for power’s sake; that they also want
to end Queen Phoebe’s abuses is coincidence.
Old Cassius and Catherine Driscoll also
oppose the status quo, although for them politics
is a means of survival, for them but also their
clans. Their approaches, however, are different.
 Finally, it is possible that Albie Tolliver, the
leader of the Charlotte Tremere, will act as an
antagonist if the players oppose Queen Phoebe
and/or attempt to foil his experiments into the
Malkavian Madness Network. He officially denies
his studies, but also professes ignorance as to why
anyone would care about a clan that so regularly
breaks the First Tradition. He is not aware that he
is under an investigation by the Malkavian Justicar
and were he to learn of it, he would try to appeal
for aid from his clan superiors. He is more
expendable than he thinks he is, and players could
well be local Tremere members who turn against
him or agents employed by the Justicar. If the
players attempt to leverage Tolliver’s experiments
against him to induce him to turn on Queen
Phoebe, he will agree to go along… until he can
inform on them to Sutherland and have them
removed. Tolliver realizes that the best way for
him to keep his experiments progressing is to
maintain Sutherland’s regime and her patronage
of him; his fortune is firmly hooked to her star.
It is, of course, possible that the players could
try and defend Sutherland and Tolliver if one or
more of them are their childer. Complications like
these should be encouraged when using this
setting, where the political theme intersects with
family drama. Players’ characters may have sires
who belong to the ruling clans but join the
anarchs, or vice versa. The childer of sires on
different sides in the conflict may strike up
friendships or romances that clash with their
loyalties, forcing them to choose between friends,
lovers, and “family.” Rescuing Cassius from
becoming a puppet of Flagg takes on another layer
of drama when it is Cassius’ childe seeking to save
their sire from his own good intentions. Similarly,
there is more punch to a story about Queen
Phoebe’s prized protégé or Tolliver’s star pupil
turning on their mentor, rejecting their power and
position, out of ethics or ambition. Conversely, if
the players work to help Queen Phoebe and
Tolliver, they will have those characters pushing
and pressuring them as the players’ characters
wrestle with the moral consequences of defending
an unfair and unjust autocracy maintained by to different cities in search of a home away from
force. This should mirror the characters’ coping Charlotte, their sires and their great expectations.
with the loss of their Humanity as the Beast rouses
inside them, inspiring more monstrous deeds.
In political/family-oriented games like this,
the players’ characters could possibly turn against
one another, which can add to the drama but also
create conflict that bleeds into out-of-character
interactions. Storytellers should take care to
enable players to plot against each other while
keeping the game a game, breaking up players so
their private agendas remain private. A story set in
Charlotte may not lead to a long-term chronicle,
since at some point the music must stop and not
everyone will have a seat. Players’ characters may
not just eliminate some important non-player
characters but some of their fellow players’
characters as well. As long as players have no
problem creating new characters (who may or may
not be “related” to others) and jumping back into
the political fray, this might not be an issue, but
again, care must be taken that political feuds
within the game do not also influence interactions
in the “real world.” Assure your players recognize
the boundaries between the game and real life.
It may be that the players’ characters end up
replacing some or all the major NPCs as the major
figures in Charlotte, usurping their sires as the
authority in Charlotte. Whether the city becomes
a New South anarch experiment or remains part
of the Camarilla, depending on how the struggle
between Sutherland and Flagg plays out. Since the
Sabbat has nearby strongholds in Miami and
newly captured Atlanta, a follow-up story could be
about a Sabbat invasion seeking to exploit the
chaos in Charlotte. The players’ characters would
have to patch up their differences in the aftermath
of an uprising against Sutherland or the downfall
of Tolliver to resist a brutal assault. A combat
game against packs of shovelheads might be
welcome mindless action-adventure after a
political/family drama. If the players’ characters
leave Sutherland in charge or replace her with
another NPC, future stories could have them go