Vampire: Bloodlines Retrospective

[GameBanshee News]

Rock, Paper, Shotgun has a fun little write-up as the author recalls one of his experiences with Troika's Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, (the spoiler-heavy) Heather and Me.

“Power Corrupts” has never been true. In my experience, Power Seduces. “Corrupt” implies it’s akin to sprinkling a little **** in an otherwise immaculate meal. The problem with power is that it just makes everything better. And when someone’s staring up at you, saying you’re the best person in the world and they’d do anything - anything - you ask, could you say no?

I thought I could. I was wrong.

I’ve been on adventures before, and I always lean towards the side of right. I tried to do that here too but since entering the World of Darkness, even best intentions twisted in my hand. Heather was the classic case. I found her, lying dying in the corner of a Santa Monica emergency ward. A college girl with market-bought Scarlet dyed hair and emo glasses, straight off an Oakland campus. Pity makes me choose to feed her a drop of my own Vampiric blood, gifting her a little of my own power – enough to save her. She becomes what we call a Ghoul. Coming to, she asks me what happened. In a moment of madness, I tell her the truth. She screams, calling for the police and I make with the disappearing into the night thing my brethren and I do so well.

I forget about her. So when, much later, she turns up outside the LA Camarilla’s headquarters it’s a surprise. She’d been looking for me everywhere since that night. She hasn’t been able to stop thinking about me. She just wants to be there for me, pay me back any way she can, whatever. I try and talk her out of it – she really doesn’t know what she’s getting into, but she’s so insistent. I think “why not”. I’ll treat her well and everything will be okay.

[Amasius]

Excellent article. I felt almost the same as Kieron but in the end I wasn't strong enought to force her to go... At a certain point of the game you meet a another ghoul, first arrogant then despaired, who has lost her master. You have to decide - send her away with a lie before she endangers the masquerade? Kill her to be on the safe side? And I started thinking what would happen to Heather if I die. But then my selfish dark heart prevailed. She was such a useful little pet...

That's why Bloodlines is such a great RPG - you have to make decisions that really matter concerning NPCs you care for. I can't think of another RPG with such memorable NPCs.

[Tricky]

(spoiler:)
Mm. They shouldn't have made her give you that armor though. Once you know it's there, it isn't much of an internal battle to keep her around. And then she's finally killed fairly swiftly, without much of a cutscene or a chance to intervene.

A pity.

[Amasius]

Pah, you are just a selfish bastard.

Spoiler: An armor is more worth for you than the life of sweet little Heather? - It wouldn't be a choice with true consequences if you don't have to pay a price for saving her, especially if you know the outcome.

[Tricky]

You know, if memory serves you actually gain Humanity for saving her. Shouldn't that be the other way around then? Let Old Yeller die rather than letting him(/her?) go mad with rabies.

[Amasius]

I'm no expert for the Vampire: the Masquerade-setting but as far as I know she isn't lost beyond hope at that point. If you send her away she'll finally recover from her "addiction".