This is an unofficial sequel to my post on adding city creation procedures to Vampire: The Masquerade, a part 1.5, if you will. It features some content that should show up on part 2 (which will focus on NPC creation), but aside from that, it is mostly a showcase for the kind of sandbox one can make using the aforementioned procedures. If you're at all interested in the raw elements behind the city's flavour, they're included at the end of the post.
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| The map above illustrates the city's Domains, along with the location of their points of interest. |
Our city's Themes are Idealism and Sloth, and its Mood is defined by Faith and Ignorance. Inspired by its Themes and Mood, I decided to call it Hallelujah, TX, also known as America's Sweetest Daughter. It was founded in 1688, and its population of 428,781 is currently facing austere times, as corporate offices are moving to brighter pastures, while its railroad yards see less and less use, and its many prestigious universities can't support the city by themselves.
Let's take a quick look at Hallelujah's most important historic events...
• 1693: A great fire is started by a rogue vampire hunter, consuming the town of Hallelujah. [Natural Disaster]
• 1701: The city starts the process of rebuilding and expansion, funded by the surrounding ranches. [Expansion]
• 1784: As a safe port during the Revolutionary War, Hallelujah welcomed an influx of refugees. [Population Boom]
• 1837: A hateful, card-carrying KKK member is elected as mayor, shaping much of the city's history. [Rise of Historical Figure]
• 1921: During the Prohibition, bootleggers use the Redwater river to smuggle alcohol to Oklahoma. [Crimewave]
• 1925: Oil is discovered in Hallelujah's vicinities, and the city keeps on growing. [Expansion]
• 1941: Hallelujah's oil dries up, and the oil industry leaves the city behind. [Deindustrialization]
• 1983: Not even quaint (not so) little Hallelujah is safe from crack, and its arrival was unavoidable. [Drug Epidemic]
• 1994: In an effort to clean its image, the city offered heavy tax incentives to universities and companies. [Expansion]
• 2011: Although Hallelujah succeeded in becoming a college town, corporate life never thrived there, and many companies decided to cut their losses and abandon the city. [Economic Crash]
That paints an interesting picture of what the last few centuries have been like in Hallelujah, but we're not done yet, as the Kindred side of thing is just as important, if not more.
• 1693: The city's first Prince, a Malkavian, is betrayed by his childe, who uses a rogue vampire hunter to dispose of him. [Coup D'état]
• 1695: A Malkavian Justicar calls Hallelujah's first Conclave after the current Prince's role in the city's burning is anonymously exposed. The Prince is found not guilty. [Conclave]
• 1703-1709: A cell of hunters descends upon the city, led by the hunter responsible for the events of 1693. The Prince meets his Final Death, but he is survived by the Primogen. [Vampire Hunting Season]
• 1746: The entirety of Hallelujah's Primogen Council is supposedly diablerised by Sabbat infiltrators. They are succeeded by their inexperienced childer, as no one else wants to step up. [Diablerie]
• 1810-1834: After almost a century of ruling the city like tyrants, the Primogen Council faces several riots led by the city's Brujah, Nosferatu and Malkavians. Three members of the council are killed, and, as a gesture of goodwill, their spots are offered to members of each of the clans involved in the riots. [Anarch Riots]
• 1887-1903: The Sabbat launches a siege in Hallelujah. The Primogen holds strong for far longer than most expected it to, but in the end, the Sword of Caine's might could not be opposed. The conflict ends when the oldest Primogen members use the youngest as scapegoats, hiding away while they're massacred. [Sabbat Siege]
• 1912: The last remaining members of the city's former Primogen are unrooted by the Black Hand, and they are publicly diablerised during the year's Festivo dello Estinto. [Diablerie]
• 1945: Inspired by the Anarchs of Los Angeles, some of Hallelujah's Sabbat packs decide to rebel against the Sword of Caine, seeing it for what it is: a more extreme version of the Camarilla, where the young shall always be beneath the old. Although the city is "freed" from the Sabbat's shackles, its Anarchs haven't completely abandoned its ways. Thus, they call themselves the Unshackled. [Anarch Riots]
• 1985: Each and every Kindred of Clan Gangrel in Hallelujah is executed by the Unshackled leaders after being found guilty of trying to rejoin the Sword of Caine. To this day, Outlanders are still personae non gratae in the city, and will find it an unwelcoming place, indeed. [Clan Purge: Gangrel]
• 2008-2022: Unabashedly rowdier than most Anarchs, the Kindred of Hallelujah were sitting ducks for the Second Inquisition, but they decided to move on to more important assignments after a disastrous mission which led to the Inferno of 2022. That incident claimed the entirety of the Unshackled's leadership, but as nature abhors a power vacuum, the Anarch Free States have sent an envoy to ensure the city's freedom. That, along with the recent arrival of a powerful Brujah brood, marks the start of strange and interesting times... [Economic Crash]
I am actually surprised by how unique the city's political situation ended up becoming, considering all of these events were rolled, rather than chosen. It's not a "regular" Anarch city with Barons and so on, and it's absolutely not a Camarilla city by any means. Instead, it's a wild, dangerous and unpredictable thing. This feels like a good way to break the "mold", so to speak, and I'm quite happy with that.
DOMAINS
As with historic events, these were all rolled, rather than chosen, with a few modifications (that is, rerolls) here and there to prevent too much repetition. Most of these are actual neighbourhoods in the city claimed by Kindred, with one or two exceptions that function more like vampiric territories/political divisions.
Merry Fields
This beautiful and cheerful area has always been the city's designated fairgrounds, housing its events since the early 1700s. Due to its cultural and historic significance, openly hunting in the neighbourhood has always been discouraged. Recently, an upstart Ventrue fledgling known simply as the Maestro decided to claim Merry Fields as their Domain, settling down on an abandoned old mansion. Their theatrics have earned them a place with the Unshackled, and they've been building a cult of personality among the faction's youngest licks, much to their esteemed sire's chagrin.
Point of Interest: Maelstrom House, an abandoned old mansion where the Maestro parties with the Unshackled. The property used to belong to a disgraced politician, which is why no one ever bothered fixing it up or reclaiming it.
The Wastes
Barely anyone ever ventures into Hallelujah's abandoned oil fields, and that suits its Malkavian antitribu ruler just fine. The former Ductus of a powerful pack, Charlie Wolfram lost everything during the Anarch Uprising of 1945, but he refused to abandon the city anyway. Eeking out a pitiful existence in the Wastes, as his Domain is known, Charlie perseveres in spite of his cruelty and his sadistic appetites, preying on anyone stupid enough to wander alone through his hunting grounds, be they Kine or Kindred.
The Malkavian ancilla dresses like a fading rockstar, and the oil plant he calls his Haven has been decorated in a surreal, almost stylish fashion, with bright colours and unsettling graffiti on the walls, both of which are enhanced by Charlie's collection of interesting garbage, exhibited like museum pieces.
Point of Interest: Wolfram's Den, an abandoned oil plant where Sabbat stragglers can occasionally be found, along with the Den's owner. It is surreal and stylish.
Ashen Quarter
Once, this was a lively residential neighbourhood. Now, it's little more than burnt homes and deserted streets, where criminals and squatters make their living. Few buildings survived the Inferno of 2022, and the Hallelujah Lighthouse happens to be one of those, serving as the headquarters for an agent of the Second Inquisition.
The Lighthouse Keeper may be part of the SI, but he carries the guilt of all the lives lost and ruined during the Inferno of 2022; if the SI hadn't intervened, all those people would still be alive. As such, he keeps watch over the city's Kindred, fixing Masquerade breaches in order to prevent the SI from ever returning to Hallelujah.
Point of Interest: The Hallelujah Lighthouse. It is welcoming yet depressing, a husk of the beautiful historic building it used to be.
Cherry Blvd.
The trendiest neighbourhood in all of Hallelujah, Cherry Blvd. is the kind of place that only truly ever comes alive at night. The city's best bars, restaurants, pubs, music venues and clubs are all located in the boulevard, drawing tourists and locals alike into the night's embrace. It is ironic, then, that such a lively Domain should be ruled by one as lifeless as Gustave de Montagne. The Ventrue ancilla is always trying to build an "empire", and its current form is a chain of upscale restaurants known as Meridian, which serves Kindred and Kine alike. As a traditionally trained chef himself, Gustave is quite proud of this project.
The Camarilla sent the Blue Blood to Hallelujah to establish a beachhead, and by claiming such an important area of the city for himself, he is doing a good enough job of that. Offering free meals to desperate Anarchs has made him some friends among the locals, and that doesn't hurt, either. Alas, his wayward childe has joined the Unshackled, but they will come to their senses soon enough. Papa Gustave will make sure of that.
Point of Interest: The Meridian restaurant, where affluent Kindred can enjoy gourmet offerings, and destitute licks can always find a warm blood bag. It is surprisingly cheerful in its presentation, and there's a sultry, sweltering touch to the premises.
University Hill
This is the very beating heart of Hallelujah, and without University Hill's success, the city would've been left to the flies a long, long time ago. Developed in the 90s, this neighbourhood is the very embodiment of Hallelujah's hopes and dreams, serving as the home for several renowned academic institutions. The city's administration poured everything they had left into the construction of this area, and it shows: its infrastructure is excellent, its streets are gorgeous and lined with trees, and almost every building exhudes style and class. After the Inferno of 2022 claimed several human lives and wiped out the Unshackled's leadership, though, the Anarch Free States sent an envoy to watch over Hallelujah.
Zoe Villalobos, a Banu Haqim neonate, didn't waste any time before seizing control of University Hill, from where she intends to oversee the city's future, safety and freedom. While she has yet to openly claim the title of Baron, she is the closest thing Hallelujah has ever had to one, and if not for Maxson's brood, she would be the city's uncontested ruler. The Unshackled consider Zoe a promising leader, one that seeks to preserve their way of life, but they haven't formally announced their allegiance yet.
Point of Interest: UT Hallelujah's campus, the place where Zoe conducts her meetings, choosing to hide in plain sight. The university is grandiose and awe-inspiring, with cops everywhere to keep the students "safe".
Stockington
A leftover from better, more progressive days, Stockington is the home of Hallelujah's rail yards, which are still functional to this day. Smog is a constant here, but few of the workers and residents seem to mind anymore. To them, it's just part of the area's charm. The architecture here is rich in bricks and mortar, as everything was built to last, and Hallelujah's last remaining unions still meet frequently inside quaint little gyms and pubs. This was once the bedrock of socialism in the city, and although the cops have done their best to stomp that out, a lot of the neighbourhood's friendly locals are still true believers. They're just a little less vocal about it, after decades of persecution.
The area's history and sensibilities made it a perfect match for the enigmatic Maxson, a pretender Elder and the leader of the Brujah brood who has recently arrived in Hallelujah. A veteran of several revolutions, starting with the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Maxson has fought for freedom and for the disenfranchised for almost 400 years, and although he still talks the talk, he is tired of fighting the good fight. His childer represent his hope for the future, and their presence in Hallelujah is his way of testing them.
Point of Interest: The Rails, also known as Hallelujah's last bastion of social progress. It is incredibly lively at all times, with workers chatting with the locals and among themselves, while trigger-happy cops patrol the area in search of "contraband" and subversive talk.
Oldtown
There's a reason Oldtown has been left to rot, rather than being celebrated as an important part of the city's history. During the early 19th Century, Carter Bowman, a racist, despicable man got himself elected as mayor, and his lineage ruled Hallelujah until the 1940s, when they were forcibly ousted along with the Sabbat. Oldtown was the historic stomping ground of the Bowmans, housing Hallelujah's former City Hall and a great many monuments, landmarks and labyrinthine streets of times gone by, and better left forgotten.
Unwanted by the Unshackled, this Domain was recently claimed by Melody Adams, a young Brujah neonate who is part of Maxson's brood, one of the city's strongest coteries. She is the very picture of privilege, a proper southern lady with her head always stuck in the clouds, with idealistic dreams and designs. She wants to erase the taint left by the Bowmans on Oldtown, refusing to allow those "rat bastards" from ruining such a quaint little place. Declaring the old City Hall neutral grounds has been a choice, to be sure, but some meetings between the city's factions have already been successfully mediated there. It remains to be seem how successful one can be at rehabilitating a place with such a dark past.
Point of Interest: The Old City Hall, currently being reformed by Melody Adams and her ghouls. It's still a husk of a building, and its infamy keeps most Kine from even approaching the place, which suits its new purpose as an "embassy" of sorts just fine.
Bright Valley
While University Hill was a big hit, Bright Valley was a huge miss. Originally meant to be Hallelujah's big foray into the corporate world, the neighbourhood was left in the dust when Bella Vista miraculously and organically developed itself into exactly what Bright Valley was meant to be. Nowadays, it's filled with vacant parking lots, dead malls, abandoned factories and rusting warehouses, and the unfortunate people who live here are just trying to get by. To make matters worse, Bright Valley has a history of police brutality and racial profiling. This is precisely the reason why Gail Williams, a black, young Brujah neonate took over the Domain, hoping she can put a stop to the horrors that plague the area.
The most outspoken and fervent member of Maxson's brood, Williams is a self-made woman, and behind her fancy clothes and plethora of degrees, she is still an idealist at heart. Only a fool could ever hope to turn a place like Bright Valley around, but that hasn't stopped Gail, whose base of operations at the abandoned Grand Hallelujah Mall (or GHM) is always open to any Kindred or Kine in need.
Point of Interest: The Grand Hallelujah Mall. Its oppressive architecture is falling apart after a decade of neglect, but Gail finds it a rather auspicious location to plot the city's future from, and a rising phoenix has been painted on its ceiling by a friend of hers. Aside from that, it's one of the few places in Bright Valley where cops refuse to go, conveniently enough.
Bella Vista
What is Bella Vista if not a sprawl of glass skyscrapers, sterile offices, bland luxury condos, hotels and intrusive advertising everywhere? Some may call it a corporate hellhole, but it is undoubtedly essential to the city's economy. In spite of that, when the next bubble bursts, it could very well become another Stockington — that is, if it wasn't under the watchful eye of Reinoud van Alphen. This young Tremere ancilla is charming, unassuming and filthy rich, as well as the last remaining founder of the Unshackled.
Politics aren't something the Warlock is particularly interested in, however; he'd rather keep his eyes on the bottomline, as money is what truly matters in the modern world. One can always contact him at Bella Vista's Museum of Minimalism, and if the price is right, there is nothing Reinoud can't procure.
Point of Interest: The Museum of Minimalism, in all its boring, sterile glory. Visitors are quite rare, and if not for Reinoud's funding, it's doubtful the museum would still be open. As it is, the Tremere ancilla is very fond of the place, though no one really knows why.
INTRIGUE
Hallelujah's Domains are currently divided between several factions: the Unshackled remnants, the Brujah brood, a representative of the Anarch Free States, the Camarilla, some Sabbat stragglers, and even a rogue SI agent. Watching all of those interact in play should be a delight!
Now, these aren't all of Hallelujah's Kindred (though they very well could be, depending on the Storyteller). They're only the big shots, the power players, the licks whose actions carry the most weight. They were all generated with my procedures for creating NPCs (coming soon!), but Hallelujah's "court" (if it can even be called that) could still be fleshed out plenty. That's something we will hopefully explore on part 3 of this series, though.
PLAYING THE NUMBERS
City founding: 1688 [late 17th century]
Population: 428,781 [300k-500k]
Kindred population: 20
City themes: Idealism and Sloth
City mood: Faith and Ignorance
Historic events: 10
Kindred events: 10
Ruling faction: The Unshackled [Anarch offshoot]
Other factions: Brujah brood, Sabbat stragglers, SI
Economy & source: Austere; corporate, transport and education (main)
• The Wastes
Traits: Hideous and Lifeless
Complication: Kindred squatters
Benefit: Peaceful
Faction: Sabbat stragglers
Point of interest: Surreal and Stylish industrial building
Ruler: Charlie Wolfram, a Malkavian antitribu ancilla with the Survivor Archetype. He is cruel and persevering, dresses like a fading Rockstar and feeds his sadistic appetites on intruders.• Cherry Blvd.
Traits: Seedy and Popular
Complication: Kindred Overpopulation
Benefit: Vibrant Nightlife
Faction: Camarilla
Point of interest: Cheerful and sweltering restaurant, the Meridian
Ruler: Gustave de Montagnac, a Ventrue ancilla with the Architect Archetype. He is tasteless and boring, is always in his chef's whites, and is trying to draw followers into his (and the Tower's) fold.
So, yeah, this is what's hiding beneath the hood! It was enough to inspire me, so I'm hoping y'all find the process just as useful as I did.
I still have a bunch of VtM stuff in store, and part 2 of the series should be hitting the blog in a few days. As always, you can find me on Twitter as @sys.crash, and on Bluesky as @machineheart.bsky.social.
Ta-ta!
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