u/Solmyrion

Hey. I'm a pretty seasoned D&D DM, but I've always been writing my own systems and stories. I recently picked up the VTM 5E book and voraciously read it. I wrote my own little Chronicle that takes place in Atlantic City 1998, where a "young" Prince is trying to consolidate power and the sharks smell blood in the water.

Story is basically that someone or something is Embracing new Kindred for an unknown purpose. Maybe to recruit them as soldiers for some upcoming war, maybe as food, maybe just to weaken the Camarilla. The characters are such victims, and are rescued by the Camarilla. There they will slowly learn the ins and outs of Atlantic City and may eventually change the fragile balance of the city in New York's shadow. The Chronicle may eventually even lead up to New York itself.

The newly embraced Childer were led into a camarilla haven after being rescued, kept there for a couple of days and then given a rundown of the Kindred unlife by the clan shadow. Now they've been sent to their first "mission" as a test if they're worth keeping around or not. They have to break into a motorcycle club and steal CCTV video tapes from yesterday that document a Masquerade Breach, only unknown to them is that the tapes are already in the hands of a private investigator.

All in all I think I did a decent job as a Storyteller. It's certainly enjoyable to not be as bound by the constant Skill Checks of D&D. But speaking of Skill Checks, I definitely did hesitate to ask for a roll even when it was kind of justified - because I was scared of a Bestial Failure or a Messy Critical. I was just running the scenario in my head and couldn't think of anything what would happen if either happened.

Let's say the character tries to eavesdrop through a door and tries to make out words. I have no idea what a Bestial Failure or a Messy Critical would look like in that situation. And in a social context too, if they try to extract information - how can that even Bestially Fail or Messily Crit?

I'd love to hear your thoughts about handling Messy Crits and Bestial Fails in non-obvious context.

Jack can't sidestep. It's a pretty huge part of the game, where the counter for most of the cast is "Oh just step in this direction" or "You step right duck against this". Jack can't do it, he just has to take it and guess or gamble with armor. On top of that, he doesn't even have a 10 frame jab which is another fundamental-level weakness. Sure he has f2, but it's a -12 on block high.

What advantage does he actually have that justifies this huge weakness? Sure, he has some unga stance pressure, but then again so does everyone else. His damage isn't anything special in this game, nor is the combo length or wall carry. His 10 frame Heat Smash is good in theory, but it doesn't lead to giga wall/stance pressure like most heat smashes. And it's a high startup so it can even be evaded.

I think his winrate is only as high as it is because of his rarity, outside of that he is just an average kit combined with huge, fundamental weaknesses. He has nothing special going for him, nothing someone else doesn't do better, and his only uniqueness is his inability to play real Tekken.