From: [c--l--j] at [helium.Gas.UUG.Arizona.EDU] (Jason D Corley ) Newsgroups: alt.games.whitewolf Subject: The Ventrue's Guide to Manipulation, Second Edition Date: 10 May 1994 23:02:35 GMT As I ran across this old essay in someone's ftp site, I thought I'd slap it together again and make it look pretty. Will whoever put it there the first time replace the old file with this one? A VENTRUE'S GUIDE TO MANIPULATING NEARLY EVERYONE YOU EVER WILL MEET VERSION TWO ======================================================================= First, be forewarned that these rules are not hard and fast. They are in fact rather soft and slow. Not everyone will react the same way to being manipulated (or out-and-out ordered) to do stuff. Get to know the person you are manipulating. This does not necessarily mean being friendly with them: that may in fact be counter-productive if they themselves are manipulative people. Find out about them from a variety of third-person sources. And don't limit yourself to sources you trust. Sometimes you might hear something that will be useful, even if it isn't entirely true. Never underestimate the power of the Rumor, young Ventrue. Never. Second, _cover your ass_. If (when) something goes wrong, have a way out. Hopefully several. We didn't get to our position by letting neonates make us look bad---not to mention the damage that could be done to your own reputation. ======================================================================= Without further ado, let's get the little stuff out of the way first. Like mortals. Easy as pie. Dominate, condition, use Presence, do whatever you want, it's hard to go wrong with these worms. But don't get overconfident. You still have to have that back door available. Not only is it a bad habit to get into, leaving yourself open, but if something does go wrong, it usually gone badly wrong and you have Ye Olde Inquisition or a gang of wolves on your tail. Don't sweat blood over the cattle, but be careful. They have this nasty habit of stampeding... ====================================================================== OK, now on to real people. The Tremere. ------------ First priority with the Tremere is to _not tell them anything_. Not necessarily because you don't want them to know it---but just because they want to find it out themselves. Besides, it's sort of an unspoken agreement, so don't expect them to be real forthcoming either. They are the best at manipulating people, aside from us of course, and it's a real game to them, trying to be better than us. Futile, really, but fun to watch. The hook with the Tremere is almost always knowledge. You offer to tell them what's going on and most of them will jump at the chance. Occult stuff usually works too. Be _sure_ you know what you're doing before you offer them any magic books or anything like that---those have a habit of coming back to haunt deal-makers who didn't know what they were dealing with. Sure, you get rid of that pesky Mage, but look what your chief rival has up his sleeve now. Which leads to the next Tremere hook. They like to think that they are the smartest vampires in the Camarilla, and you know what? They probably are. In fact, it's almost a given that the majority of the Tremere are going to be significantly smarter than you. Your job in manipulating them is obviously not going to be out-thinking them, because you can't. Feign ignorance, and let them explain things to you, thinking that they have a willing dupe. It's also almost a given that they'll let drop more than they wanted to. Then you figure something out that they haven't, and you've got them. The Nosferatu. -------------- Don't knock them. Ever. Not even in the privacy of your own Haven. Never. Do I sound a little paranoid? Listen, when you're dealing with the Nosferatu, there are two kinds of paranoia, total, and insufficient. If you have _ever_ said anything about them, like "rat-face" or "useless sewer-crawlers" even when you were asleep, you better not be counting on them for anything. That said, there is only one way to manipulate a Nosferatu and it's very simple. Ask what the Nosferatu wants, and then give it to them. If you have never crossed them, they won't cross you first. It's called trust. You may have heard of it once or twice. Let me tell you something else. It's possible to betray the Nosferatu's trust and get away with it. It's just very, very hard. They stick together. They have something called "clan unity". You may have heard of that once or twice too, probably from a Tremere. No, we don't go in for that sort of thing. So how do you go about screwing a Nosferatu pawn who has served their usefulness? Do it indirectly, and be vociferous in your defense of the guy. Insist that what happened to him (social ostracism works far too well, as does yanking material possessions or herd members) was a real injustice and that you offer your sympathy to them. But no help. Nothing they can do about it, and they still love you. You can do this over and over and over again if you're good enough. But on the other hand, if you have to read this to figure out how to do it, you aren't good enough. Better just go with the "trust" theory. The Gangrel. ------------ The Gangrel are difficult to manipulate, not because of any traditions or problems we have with them, it's just that they themselves are so overtly unmanipulative that any attempts to pussyfoot around the subject feels out of place in a conversation with them. The way to manipulate a Gangrel is to lay everything on the line, or to presentthat impression. The problem lies in attempting to give them the impression that you have told them everything you know about a situation when in fact you have left out several vital facts. If you lie to a Gangrel, lie with confidence and remember, always remember that back door. Nasty things, with big friends sometimes. The Malkavians. --------------- The first thing to understand about the Malkavians is that they are crazy. The second thing to understand about the Malkavians is that they are not stupid. Do not patronize them. Do not pretend to see things that you don't, trying to play along. They will know you are lying and react poorly to you. Many say there is no way to manipulate a Malkavian. This is not the case. Malkavians are often lost and childlike. If they put their trust in you, you can tell them to do almost anything, and they will try. How, you ask, can you get that trust? I don't have a single clue. But if you get it, use it before it goes away, or just accept it this once and let it slide. Others believe themselves to be as mercenary as the Giovanni--- pay them off in tinfoil and bits of string (Don't forget to bargain with them. Illusions are very important to the Malkavians. Heck, let them prank you once or twice, if it's nothing big. Laugh it up.) If you get a Malkavian in a state where you think they might do something you want, consider what you want them to do. You wouldn't send a Toreador to clean out a nest of Sabbat. You'd send some Gangrel and maybe a Tremere. Just the same, you wouldn't send a Malkavian to do something like receive a visiting elder or take a message to the Justicar. Think back to all your plans that went awry because of Malkavians. What did they do? What they do best---spread chaos, mayhem and madness. Siccing a Malkavian on a plot is the easiest, simplest and surest way of complicating it and introducing elements that the plotter(s) probably didn't think of. The Brujah. ----------- Don't snort. Shut up. You think you're above that rabble? Shut up. You don't know shit. Brujah are fast and tough and make _excellent_ pawns. You've got a few options with them, too: 1. If you can manage it, get rumors circulating that performing action X would seriously hork off the Prince or other elder (even the Brujah elder ironically enough.) Wait for nature to take it's course. The disadvantage to this is that it may take a while, and in many instances (the above- mentioned Sabbat nest), it just wouldn't make sense and would probably put attention on the wrong person (you) anyway. Hope you had that back door ready. 2. Be straight with them. Don't be ingratiating, don't try to get into their good graces (they haven't got any). If you have the power to do so, offer them small concessions. It doesn't matter how small they are---it only matters how small you _act_ like they are. If you act as if it tears your heart out to give them $1.50, then the price probably won't go any higher. They don't really want anything from us except to see us squirm. So squirm. Who cares what they think? The Toreador. ------------- Believe it or not, this may be the hardest clan to consistently manipulate. Why? Well, first of all, their only hook is art. There's really no way you can _use_ that hook to reel them in. They're probably so entrenched in the local art scene that even if you held 200 poets captive and threatened to off them all, the Toreador would probably just turn up their noses and denounce them as "passe". What's more, they often resent the fact that while they are "clearly" the finest Kindred around, while they are out carousing and having a good time, we are getting things done. Sorry, but I don't have anything really substantive to say about the Toreador except the best way to deal with them is to _sit_ on that rumor mill and _listen_ to what's going on. Reputation is everything to them, so if you can get a stranglehold on one of _those_, you've got a pawn for unlife. The Ventrue. ------------ Totally unmanipulatable. Trust me. -- **************************************************************************** "The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than that of any other animal." -------H.L. Mencken Jason D. "[c--l--j] at [gas.uug.arizona.edu]" is wanted for Romanian dirt smuggling.