TEXT: Danse de la Mort
  Additional Storyteller Notes
  When preparing Mary’s Child, the first installment of Danse de la Mort for it’s
  print version, I was forced to cut a few interesting tidbits of Storytelling advice
  included by author Matthew McFarland. We crammed a lot into 40 undersized
  pages, but we just couldn’t get in. Thanks to the joy of this online venue,
  however, I’m happy to be able to provide these notes to you. You’ll notice that
  subsequent scenarios include Theme and Mood notes, so this discussion of that
  technique as it relates to Mary’s Child may be very useful indeed. Notes on a
  few other topics are also included to help you out.
  Storytelling Techniques — Theme and Mood
  Every story, regardless of medium, has some theme or themes. A theme is an idea
  or concept that runs through the story. In a way, the theme is the point the story
  is trying to make. A roleplaying game doesn’t need to have a theme at all, but it
  tells a story, and thus is a perfect medium for conveying a theme. Conveying it
  well is in large part up to the Storyteller. Each of the stories in Danse de la Mort
  has a different theme, and in each story we’ll be offering some brief hints on
  what to do to sustain that theme.
  Likewise, the mood of the story is the feeling or ambiance appropriate to it. Films
  evoke mood by means of lightning, music and cinematography. You can use
  some of the same tricks to evoke a mood in your games: You can play by
  candlelight, or at least without direct, overhead lighting to simulate the fact that
  characters have to operate by night. You can play Latin chants when the
  characters meet with Maldonato in the church and switch to something a bit
  more urban when they venture into the Tremé District. But as with theme, mood
  changes with each story.
  The theme of Mary’s Child is discovery. The characters are awakening to the
  Requiem, encountering a side of the world they never imagined existed. But this
  discovery isn’t one of wide-eyed wonder, it’s pure horror. The characters are
  dead. Everything they knew and loved is lost to them. The discovery of the
  world of the Kindred might be fascinating and even thrilling at times, but
  everything the characters learn should serve to underline what they will never
  see again. You can underline this theme by occasionally mentioning some detail
  of life that the characters might have enjoyed — food, sex, sunlight — and then
  questioning whether they can ever have it again (don’t simply say, “Ha! No more
  steak for you, ever!” because it’s annoying, and isn’t necessarily true, anyway).
  The mood of Mary’s Child is pure menace. The characters are young vampires,
  and vampires are predators. Every other vampire they meet is a competitor for
  blood and power, and the characters are still too ignorant to effectively defend
  themselves. Every single character they meet either engenders a feeling of anger
  or fear, and every new situation, no matter how mundane, might hide a lurking
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  danger. Every time the characters meet another vampire, that vampire is decided
  whether it would be better, in the long run, to kill these neonates now. When you
  take on the roles of Kindred Storyteller characters, make eye contact with the
  players and stare a breath or two longer than you normally would.
  Storytelling Option — Not the Big Easy
  It is possible to run Mary’s Child without setting it in New Orleans. We have
  written it this way because New Orleans is the signature city for Vampire: The
  Requiem, and because future books will expand on the characters presented
  here. If, however, you would rather choose another venue, you are of course free
  to do so. This story works best in a large city with a great deal of history,
  preferably a city in the south of the United States, as some of the history deals
  with the Civil War. The story has scenes that take place in Catholic churches, a
  mansion, a Jesuit University and a ghetto; most large North American cities can
  provide these. You will, of course, need to change out the names of places for
  appropriate locales in your chosen city.
  Storytelling Technique — Dealing with Touchy Subjects
  In a dramatic scene of Mary’s Child, the character come face to face with Prince
  Vidal and he asks them about their faith. Some people react badly to open
  discussions of religion, however. Vampire: The Requiem is a game of mature
  themes, and “maturity” doesn’t (and shouldn’t) equate to gratuitous violence or
  nudity. The disposition of the characters’ souls is a critical element in this game,
  and therefore it’s not at all unreasonable for the players to know what their
  characters believe.
  That said, the game is, first and foremost, about having a good time. If this sort of
  discussion makes the players uncomfortable, simply skip that part of the scene.
  Knowing your players’ comfort levels is critical to running a good game, so make
  sure to keep communication open, and make sure to make it clear that you aren’t
  challenging anyone’s beliefs — this is just a game, after all.
  © 2004 White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the written permission of the publisher is
  expressly forbidden, except for the download of one copy from www.white-wolf.com or www.worldofdarkness.com for
  personal use. White Wolf, Vampire, Vampire the Masquerade, Mage the Ascension and World of Darkness are registered
  trademarks of White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Storyteller System, Storytelling System, Vampire the
  Requiem, Werewolf the Forsaken and Mage the Awakening are trademarks of White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights
  reserved. All characters, names, places and text herein are copyrighted by White Wolf Publishing, Inc.
  Copyright White Wolf http://www.white-wolf.com :: World of Darkness http://www.worldofdarkness.com
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Storyteller [multi]/World of Darkness (WoD) [multi]/CofD/Vampire - The Requiem/Quickstart and Demo/Vampire - The Requiem - Demo - Extra Notes.pdf